AI-generated artwork portraying Ghibli’s art style exists throughout the internet as users on social platforms find it captivating. OpenAI’s latest image-generation technology in ChatGPT drives this viral trend while receiving a blend of admiration, excitement, and controversy from users. But how did it all begin?
The Origins: How Did the Ghibli Trend Start?
The fashion of AI-generated art started with Seattle-based developer Grant Slatton when he published Ghibli-style rendered family portraits through social media. After Slatton shared his AI-generated Studio Ghibli portrait on social media, it spread rapidly, which led other people to make their own AI-generated Studio Ghibli images.
Since its explosive growth, unlimited numbers of individuals, including influencers along with famous figures and political figures, stepped into the trend, which increased its scope. The AI image-generation features of ChatGPT witnessed millions of users, which produced an unprecedented growth of its user population.
Why Did the Ghibli AI Trend Go Viral?
Several factors contributed to the rapid spread of this trend:
1. Nostalgia and Aesthetic Appeal
Studio Ghibli’s animation captures viewers with its attractive hand-drawn animation combined with colorful scenes that deliver profound feelings. People show great enthusiasm to witness AI attempts at producing animated content that captures the exclusive artistic essence of Studio Ghibli.
2. Ease of Access
Users could generate and share Ghibli-style artwork instantly through OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other free AI generater convenient AI image creation tool regardless of their artistic skills.
3. Celebrity and Influencer Participation
Greater visibility occurred when politicians, doctors, and celebrities, including Elon Musk, adopted this trend, which made it more popular. TikTok and Instagram have been full of the Ghibli trend since March 2025.
The Future of AI-Generated Art
The rapid development of AI-generated art brings innovative benefits alongside essential difficulties. The progressive advancement of AI technology will produce sophisticated artwork eventually, which will reshape business sectors including animation and video games together with advertising fields. Artists can utilize AI as an artistic tool that enables personalized creative tasks along with enhanced interactive and dynamic artwork outcomes.
The concerns about authenticity alongside copyright issues as well as employment stability continue to develop. AI duplicates established art styles, which triggers debates about original artistic work.
Q: Who started the Ghibli AI art trend?
A: Grant Slatton is credited with launching the trend after sharing an AI-generated Ghibli-style family portrait on social media.
A: Studio Ghibli is renowned for its breathtaking hand-drawn animation, compelling storytelling, and deep emotional themes, which have captivated audiences worldwide for decades.
A: Creating AI art inspired by Ghibli is generally fine for personal use, but selling or claiming it as official Ghibli artwork could lead to copyright issues.
Conclusion
AI has recently been the subject of attention in art, and the Ghibli AI art trend was initially a post that became viral. In the field of social networks, its popularity increased rapidly as a result of such factors as stimulating nostalgia, availability of the product, and celebrity support. However, it also created valuable discussions on the moral question of ownership of such artwork, especially about copyright and provenance.
More such trends are expected with regard to AI taking over the creative world, further fuelling debate over the role of creativity in art. Thus, one may consider AI-generated Ghibli-style art as either kind or keep pondering over the ethical questions, but the influence it has on digital art and AI creativity is undeniable.
