Who is Hayao Miyazaki? Ghibli co-founder’s rant against ‘utterly disgusted’ AI animation goes viral

Thousands of people utilized OpenAI’s picture generator in the GPT‑4o model to generate Studio Ghibli-inspired art on social media. However, critics and admirers of the renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki have voiced their displeasure of the trend and copyright issues.

Also Read: How to generate Ghibli-style AI images using Grok 3? Step-by-step guide

Who is Hayao Miyazaki?

Miyazaki, an animation director from Japan, was born in Tokyo on January 5, 1941. In 1963, he started working as an animator at Toei Douga.

According to IMDb, he is renowned for his manga series Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, as well as other animated films including Hikotei Jidai, which was later turned into the movie Porco Rosso.

On June 15, 1985, Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Suzuki Toshio established Studio Ghibli.

Established as a division of Tokuma Shoten, Studio Ghibli has headquarters in Kichijōji. It was designed by Miyazaki.

Hayao Miyazaki’s old video goes viral on social media

Amidst the backlash, a video of Studio Ghibli co-founder Miyazaki calling AI-generated animation an “insult to life itself” has gone viral on social media.

The widely recognised director, who has made films like Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro, stated his opinions about AI in the old clip, claiming that it would not be able to comprehend human emotions.

In the video, a team of animators and designers introduces Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki, the producer of Studio Ghibli, to their “creation” of an AI system that can animate pictures.

They claimed that AI may create odd, abnormal movements that are beyond human imagination, and the animated image appeared to be a frightening zombie.

“It looks like it’s dancing. It’s moving by using its head. It doesn’t feel any pain and has no concept of protecting its head. It uses its head like a leg. This movement is so creepy and could be applied to a zombie video game. Artificial intelligence could present us with grotesque movements that we humans can’t imagine,” the presenter stated.

Hayao Miyazaki on why he is against AI

Miyazaki, who seemed fully disappointed with the explanation and the animated picture, opened up about an emotional moment. He said that he had a pal with a disability who had trouble with simple motions like giving a high five due to stiff muscles. He said that this animation picture of strange movements made him think about his friend’s battle, which is not amusing.

Stating that he did not find it “interesting”, Miyazaki told FarOut Magazine, “Whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is whatsoever.”

He declared that he is “utterly disgusted”, adding that “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.”

Responding to Miyazaki, the designer clarified it was just their experiment and “we don’t intend to do anything by showing it to the world.”