Who is Hayao Miyazaki? Studio Ghibli co-founder who calls AI images an ‘insult to life’ — All you need to know

Internet's latest obsession, the Ghibli-style images portraying animated, watercolour, and acrylic visuals over ChatGPT's latest update, is sending social media into a meltdown.

Here's a closer look at the man who brought these popular Japanese art characters to life: Studio Ghibli's co-founder Hayao Miyazaki.

Who is Hayao Miyazaki?

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese anime director. He was born in Tokyo, Japan on January 5, 1941. Miyazaki began his career as an animator in 1963 at the studio Toei Douga.

Apart from his animated films, he is also a manga artist, notably known for the manga series Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, on which he worked from 1982 to 1984, along with other animated films and Hikotei Jidai, which evolved into a film Porco Rosso, according to IMDb.

Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Suzuki Toshio founded Studio Ghibli on June 15, 1985. The company is known for its high-quality filmmaking with hand-drawn animation and rich storytelling.

Studio Ghibli was founded as a subsidiary of Tokuma Shoten, with offices in Kichijōji designed by Miyazaki. He reportedly named it after the nickname of the Caproni Ca.309 aircraft.

Some of the company's most notable animated films include Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Kiki's Delivery Service and Princess Mononoke.

Hayao Miyazaki's criticism of AI-generated animation

Previously, in an interview, Hayao Miyazaki had called AI-generated animation an "insult to life itself."

“I can’t watch this stuff and find [it] interesting. Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is whatsoever. I am utterly disgusted. If you really want to make creepy stuff, you can go ahead and do it. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.” Hayao said.

Studio Ghibli has not officially commented on the use of its art style by ChatGPT.

About ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli-style images

OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT's new native image generation feature, which allows users to create Studio Ghibli-style images, to Plus, Pro, Team, and free chatbot users on Wednesday.

However, in a post on X, Open AI CEO Sam Altman informed that the new feature will be delayed for free users. Altman also engaged with users by changing his profile picture to one of these images.