Toshio Suzuki, 78, president and board chair of Studio Ghibli, who has long produced works by director Hayao Miyazaki, 85, said that even if artificial intelligence (AI) mimics so-called "Ghibli-style" drawings, it is difficult to create expressions like genuine Ghibli works. Regarding Ghibli-style images made with AI, he drew a line, saying they are "meaningless and not fun."
In an interview with the Asahi Shimbun published on the 6th, Suzuki said he received numerous interview requests when using OpenAI's image generation features to make "Ghibli-style" images became a major trend, but he turned them all down.
Suzuki said, "I refused because I thought everyone would soon get bored, and that's what happened," adding, "A kind of animation can be easily made with AI, but anyone with even a little related knowledge can quickly tell it's fake." He added, "It's because there's neither meaning nor fun."
"Ghibli-style" images refer to pictures made by inputting portrait photos into Generative AI and asking it to change them into an art style similar to Ghibli animation. As images reminiscent of Miyazaki's works such as "Spirited Away" and "My Neighbor Totoro" poured out, they gained huge popularity worldwide.
At the time, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, even worried that "GPUs are melting," as usage surged. In Korea as well, the trend spread as more users changed their social media profile photos into Ghibli style.
In the process, suspicions were raised that Generative AI had trained on Ghibli's content without permission. However, Ghibli had not issued any official position on this.
In November last year, the Content Overseas Distribution Association (CODA), whose members include Japanese content corporations such as Ghibli and Bandai Namco, sent an open letter to OpenAI saying, "Do not use member companies' content for AI training without permission." This is the first time a key figure at Ghibli has directly expressed a position on the Ghibli-style AI craze.
Suzuki also said that Miyazaki is unaware of the very existence of Generative AI. He explained that Miyazaki is so uninterested in outside information that he dislikes even a little talk about what is going on in the world, yet his works sharply probe modern society. He called it "an instinctive understanding of what is happening now."
Miyazaki is well known for sticking to an analog method of drawing directly on paper instead of digital work.
Suzuki also shared an anecdote from the production of the film "The Boy and the Heron," which won the Academy Award for best animated feature in 2024. He said Miyazaki cut off external information and devoted himself to creation, severing not only smartphones but also newspapers, TV, and social engagements.
"AI tries to collect information by any means, but he was the exact opposite," Suzuki recalled.
He believed this working style was reflected in the expressions within the work. According to Suzuki, experts evaluated the scene in "The Boy and the Heron" where a human face suddenly pops out from inside a heron's beak as "an expression that can never be created with computer graphics (CG)."
He explained, "Miyazaki's method of cutting off external information and working ultimately manifested as something that computers find most difficult."
Since reversing his fourth retirement in 2023 and releasing "The Boy and the Heron," Miyazaki's next project has not yet been specifically revealed.
Suzuki said, "He wants to make something, but whether he can is a different matter. That is a physical issue," while adding, "He's thinking about various strange things. Miyazaki himself says, 'I'm not quite sure what they are.'"
Since joining Studio Ghibli in 1989, Suzuki has produced most of Miyazaki's theatrical animations.