Miyazaki calls AI animation 'an insult to life itself' in resurfaced Studio Ghibli clip

A clip of Hayao Miyazaki talking about computer-generated animation has resurfaced amid the massive wave of Studio Ghibli-inspired images taking over social media platforms thanks to OpenAI's newly released AI image generator.

The resurfaced clip comes after OpenAI rolled out its new GPT-4o image generator that enables users to take any image, within the tool's terms of service, and convert it into a Studio Ghibli-style animated image. Users have flocked to the new AI image-generation tool, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman writing in a recent X post that the release of the new tool attracted more than one million new users to the platform in just an hour, which is more than ChatGPT attracted in five days.

The tsunami of Studio Ghibli-inspired images has caused people to dig through past interviews with Hayao Miyazaki, the creator of the art style, to see if we can gain any knowledge on how he feels about the new tool or AI image generation as a whole.

The video that has attracted some attention is from a 2016 documentary aired by the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, NHK Special: Hayao Miyazaki - The One Who Never Ends. During the documentary, Miyazaki was shown an AI-generated animated character that used its head as a leg because it could not feel pain. The character was created for horror purposes.

The individual presenting the AI-generated character to the legendary director said the movements of the character could be used to create zombies in video games, and the response from Miyazaki was seemingly a surprise, as the director said the AI-generated character was "an insult to life itself".

Interestingly, this video was from 2016, nine years ago, when artificial intelligence-powered generation tools weren't anywhere near as powerful as they are today, nor could they perfectly replicate Miyazaki's artistic style. It makes you wonder if his perspective has shifted since 2016, or if this sentiment from 2016 has only grown further.