Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda slams OpenAI’s Ghibli-style images amid artistic and ethical concerns

OpenAI‘s latest image generation technology has sparked controversy by replicating Studio Ghibli‘s iconic animation style, creating tension between AI advancement and artistic integrity. The viral trend of “Ghibli-fied” images has drawn criticism from Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams, who highlighted both ethical concerns and environmental impacts. Her objections align with Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki’s longstanding opposition to AI in creative work, raising important questions about artistic ownership in an era of increasingly sophisticated AI image generation.

The controversy: Zelda Williams publicly criticized the viral trend of Studio Ghibli-style AI-generated images on Instagram, citing ethical and environmental concerns.

• “People are gleefully sharing ‘Studio Ghibli style’ AI memes and photos, as though the man himself wouldn’t absolutely despise the technological piracy and negative effects on our environment,” Williams wrote on March 26.
• Williams later added that life will become “deeply empty” if we “regulate the pursuit of art or knowledge to a machine because some people don’t like the effort of learning.”
• She specifically criticized the environmental impact, stating that “making s— memes and self portraits while ruining the planet is too dumb even for Wall-E.”

The artistic context: Studio Ghibli founder Hayao Miyazaki has previously expressed strong opposition to artificial intelligence in creative work.

• In the 2016 documentary “Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki,” the filmmaker stated he “would never wish to incorporate (AI) technology into my work” and called it “an insult to life itself.”
• Studio Ghibli, known for films like “Spirited Away” and “My Neighbor Totoro,” has built its reputation on meticulously hand-drawn animation.

The technology: OpenAI launched its “most advanced image generator yet” on March 25 as part of its GPT-4o model.

• Sam Altman, CEO of San Francisco-based OpenAI, changed his X profile picture to a Ghibli-style AI-generated image of himself and encouraged users to try the new technology.
• OpenAI’s technical paper stated the company takes a “conservative approach” to recreating individual artists’ styles, including “a refusal which triggers when a user attempts to generate an image in the style of a living artist.”
• The company indicated it “permits broader studio styles,” raising questions about whether it specifically trained on Studio Ghibli’s work and if it had license to do so.