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The use of AI in art is something that we’re consistently tired of hearing about, simply because there is no real argument in its favor. As people around the world used OpenAI’s generative AI software to generate images that mimicked Studio Ghibli’s iconic art style, fans rightly reminded them that Hayao Miyazaki has been vocal about his distaste for the technology, claiming it is an “insult to life itself.” However, Henry Thurlow, who was the first non-Japanese episode director for the One Piece anime, had equally harsh words for those sharing the images.

The images in question, which we're not going to link to for obvious reasons, use OpenAI's generative AI technology to produce images that (poorly) imitate Studio Ghibli's work. On social media, Thurlow reacted to the current trend, which uses OpenAI software to recreate well-known memes in Studio Ghibli’s art style. “I’m not sure what exactly these folks making AI Ghibli images even think they’re accomplishing, beyond offending and upsetting the original artists (which you’d assume they’re fans of). I mean, you can’t (and will never) make profitable movies [with] this stuff. It’s akin to trolling.”

“You can’t ‘democratize’ being a good artist or director the same way you can’t democratize becoming an Olympic athlete,” Thurlow explained, adding, “If you don’t have the time to dedicate to becoming an amazing chef, you don’t deserve a Michelin star. If you don’t have the time to dedicate to acting, you don’t deserve an Oscar. And if you don’t have the time to dedicate to animation/art, then stay the fuck out of my industry.”

Honestly, this is the perfect response to people sharing the AI-generated images of Studio Ghibli’s work. Even if you ignore the massive environmental impact that Gen AI has and the brazen theft of people’s art to power said technology, it still misses the point that the struggle to develop the skills to create something is part of the point of art. If you aren’t willing to put in the effort to hone the skills necessary to make art, don’t expect people to appreciate the slop you churn out using someone else’s work.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

• Why the finales of My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and One Piece feel like the end of an era in manga
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• Dan Da Dan is weird, profoundly inappropriate, and the perfect anime this season
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect anime hero for the dark times ahead
• 40 years after its debut, Dragon Ball is a pop culture force like few others
• Dan Da Dan's most emotionally devastating sequence proves that sometimes words aren't necessary
• Gnosia, the "Among Us meets Everything Everywhere All at Once" visual novel is getting an anime adaptation that needs to be as weird as possible
• Assassination Classroom is a Shonen anime well worth revisiting, ten years on
• Sony is making big moves to own the anime industry by buying Kadokawa, publisher of Oshi no Ko, Sword Art Online, and Konosuba
• 2025 is the year One Punch Man season 3 finally adapts the cosmically weird Monster Association Arc and I can't wait