'An insult to life itself'

Akira, My Neighbor Tortoro, Porco Rosso, Ghost in the Shell, Kimba the White Lion and Gigantor

Hayao Miyazaki's scathing take on AI resurfaces amid ChatGPT's Ghibli craze. I have thought a lot about this and have been asked by many of my friends how I felt about this. But, let’s back up a few years. I was first introduced to the mastery of Miyazaki when, in the late 90’s, I was charged with helping launch the Animax channel with Sony, bringing Anime to America. I needed to educate myself on the genre, a bit. Of course in my research, I learned that I was already a fan of anime as cartoons from my boomer childhood were indeed some of the first imports. Who here remembers Kimba, the White Lion and Gigantor? Those were anime, complete with speedlines. The classic movie I researched and watched on vhs, no less, from Miyazaki was My Neighbor Tortoro (1988), Hayao Miyazaki, a far cry from any Disney or Warner Bros narrative and style.  Studio Ghibli’s golden era included classics PRINCESS MONONOKE, SPIRITED AWAY (2001, Hayao Miyazaki)) and GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES (1988, Isao Takahata). Other notables are KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (1989, Hayao Miyazaki) GHOST IN THE SHELL (1995, Mamoru Oshii), AKIRA (1988, Katsuhiro Ohtomo) and PORCO ROSSO (1992, Hayao Miyazaki) I define anime at its most fundamental — simply, movies that were drawn and animated in Japan. Though that was 30 years ago, I grew to love Anime, Manga, Comics and Comic Con. These are hugely popular genres with huge followings. I would like to say it was all because of Animax, which is still around, by the way. But no. It is more likely the blend of actual art and a new type of narrative that caught on. Then there is Gundam. Gundam was inspired by Star Wars (1977) and Starship Troopers (1959). There was an interview with Director Tomino many years ago and he confirmed he drew inspiration from Star Wars. Ironically, Star Wars was inspired by Akira Kurosawa who made samurai movies, THE SEVEN SAMURAI (1954, Akira Kurosawa). Reference Darth’s helmet. That said, all of this is inspiration through the ages and true creatives standing on the shoulders of their predecessors. I myself, started my career as an illustrator and appreciate this craft, draftsmanship and artistry.

But OpenAI’s latest image generator is churning out Studio Ghibli-style portraits, plastered across timelines like digital wallpaper. But just as the internet collectively coos over their newfound 'artistry,' a familiar voice has reemerged to throw cold water on the hype—none other than Hayao Miyazaki himself.

 “An Insult to Life Itself” - Hayao Miyazaki

Let’s rewind to 2016. In an NHK documentary, Miyazaki was shown an AI-generated animation—a clunky, zombie-like figure flailing about. His reaction? Pure disgust. “I have a friend who is disabled… this is mocking his struggle,” he said, eviscerating the engineers before him. And then the gut punch: “I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.”

Fast forward to now, and Miyazaki’s words feel eerily prophetic. OpenAI’s GPT-4o can whip up a “Studio Ghibli version of me in a magical forest” in seconds. Even Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, jumped on the trend, swapping his profile pic for an AI-generated Ghibli portrait. And yet, in all this, the question remains: Is this art? Or is it just a really good impression? The real question is why not take this technology as a user/artist, and create something new? A NEW style.

Clever, Not Creative

A single Ghibli film takes 50,000 hours to draw. An AI image takes 7 seconds, and gets 7 thousand likes. Look, there’s no denying the tech is impressive. But let’s be clear: This isn’t creativity. It’s clever mimicry. The real tragedy? OpenAI’s blatant theft of an artistic style that took decades to perfect. One month ago, you couldn’t use an artist’s name in a prompt—OpenAI would politely nudge you to “Google the artist and hire an illustrator.” But now? That ethical speed bump has been quietly bulldozed.

The Inevitable Backlash

Miyazaki’s rejection of AI taps into a deeper debate—can machines ever truly replicate human touch? AI churns out aesthetically pleasing images, sure. But it lacks the imperfections, the soul, the lived experiences that make art art.

Meanwhile, the internet is running wild with it, applying AI-generated Ghibli aesthetics to TV clips, political memes, and—of course—family portraits. The result? A bloated doom-scroll of digital junk food, clogging up our feeds and dulling our collective taste for real artistry.

What’s Next?

This craze will burn out. They always do. But the damage is done—what was once a celebrated genre of animation has been reduced to another trend, cheapened by an AI model trained on stolen inspiration. And for that, OpenAI deserves the criticism.

As Miyazaki made clear: If you want to make soulless, creepy stuff—go ahead. But don’t call it art. Oh, one more thing. I did not use the Ghibli creator to make my illustration this week. And by all means, find these classic movies on Crunchyroll and Animax.

About the Author

Curt Doty, founder of CurtDoty.co, is an award winning creative director whose legacy lies in branding, product development, social strategy, integrated marketing, and User Experience Design. His work of entertainment branding includes Electronic Arts, EA Sports, ProSieben, SAT.1, WBTV Latin America, Discovery Health, ABC, CBS, A&E, StarTV, Fox, Kabel 1, and TV Guide Channel.

He has extensive experience on AI-driven platforms MidJourney, Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT, Murf.ai, HeyGen, and DALL-E. He now runs his AI consultancy RealmIQ and companion podcast RealmIQ: Sessions on YouTube and Spotify.

He is a sought after public speaker having been featured at Streaming Media NYC, Digital Hollywood, Mobile Growth Association, Mobile Congress, App Growth Summit, Promax, CES, CTIA, NAB, NATPE, MMA Global, New Mexico Angels, Santa Fe Business Incubator, EntrepeneursRx, Davos Worldwide and AI Impact. He has lectured at universities including Full Sail, SCAD, Art Center College of Design, CSUN and Chapman University.

He currently serves on the board of the Godfrey Reggio Foundation and is the AI Writer for Parlay Me.