SKYNET SMILES IN WRY BEMUSEMENT: OpenAI CEO Responds to ChatGPT Users Creating Studio Ghibli-Style AI Images.

The latest version of OpenAI‘s image generation technology has resulted in a flood of users sharing images on social media that have been transformed in the style of Studio Ghibli, the legendary Japanese animation studio.

On Tuesday, OpenAI launched what it called its “most advanced image generator yet,” built into GPT‑4o. That features a “natively multimodal model capable of precise, accurate, photorealistic outputs.” As it turns out, the image generator also is very good at replicating the anime style of Studio Ghibli, the company behind such popular films as “Spirited Away,” “My Neighbor Totoro” and “The Boy and the Heron.”

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Reps for Studio Ghibli in North America declined to comment.

However, Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of Studio Ghibli, has previously expressed strong disapproval of AI-generated animation. In a 2016 meeting where he was shown an AI animation demo, Miyazaki said, “I am utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all.” He also said, “I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.”

As for the rest of us, it’s a lot of fun. So much so that, “‘Our GPUs Are Melting:’ Sam Altman Limits ChatGPT Image Output After Ghibli Frenzy Overloads Servers.”

You can tell ChatGPT what you’d like it to draw, or upload a photo and ask it to create a Ghibli-style illustration based on the image, which will take ChatGPT a couple of minutes to spit out. I had a fun 15 minutes last night creating Ghibli-style cartoons of Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones: