After the release of ChatGPT 4o... with expanded capabilities and newly perfected image generation tools, a viral phenomenon has occurred where the style of the iconic "Studio Ghibli" is being replicated and spread across the world through social media.
On the one hand, its understandable that people will enjoy eliminating barriers when it comes to generating creative material... but on the other, if the enormous portfolio of Studio Ghibli was used to make it possible that their work may be now cheapened and copied, there are larger moral and ethical questions in play.
With such a widespread "meme" taking hold, I wanted to examine why the great "Ghiblification" is more than just a meme, its a lightning rod for questions about what should we really be doing with these tools, and how should we handle their development.