Following the release of ChatGPT’s new image generation tool, user activity has skyrocketed. Millions of people are drawn to the tendency for uploaded images to be inspired by Studio Ghibli’s unique visual style.
Spikes of interest have contributed temporarily to the chatbot’s record usage level and the tense Openai infrastructure.
Social media platforms were quickly flooded with AI-generated images, styled after work by famous Japanese animation studios known for titles like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. According to Simarweb, weekly active ChatGPT users have handed over 150 million for the first time this year.
Openai CEO Sam Altman said Chatbot had 1 million users in an hour in early April. This coincides with the numbers reached over the five days when text-centric ChatGPT was first launched.
Sensortower data shows that the company also recorded jumps in app activity. Weekly Active Users, Downloads, and In-App Revenue hit all record levels last week. Compared to late March, downloads increased by 11%, active users increased by 5%, and revenue increased by 6%.
The popularity of new tools has caused slower services and intermittent halts. Openai admitted the increased load, and Altman said users should expect service interruptions from time to time as delays in feature deployment and capabilities issues resolve.
Legal issues around ChatGpt’s Ghibli style AI art
The virus use of Openai’s ChatGPT AI images, inspired by Studio Ghibli, has sparked copyright concerns. Legal experts point out that, while the art style itself may not always be protected, closely mimicking a well-known appearance can lead to legal gray areas.
“The legal landscape of AI-generated images mimicking Studio Ghibli’s unique style is an uncertain terrain. Copyright law generally protects only certain expressions, not the art style itself,” says partners at law firm Neal & McDevitt,
Miyazaki’s past comments have also been resurfaced. In 2016, the studio Ghibli co-founder responded to early AI-generated artwork, saying, “I’m totally tired of it. I don’t want to incorporate this technology into my work at all.”
Openai has not commented whether the model used to generate the image is trained with content similar to Ghibli’s animations.
Data privacy and personal risk
This trend has also attracted attention to user privacy and data security. Christoph C. Cemper, founder of AI prompt management company AIPRM, warned that uploading photos for artistic transformation may involve more risk than many users are aware of.
“When you upload a photo to an AI art generator, you will hand out biometric data (faces). You will store the data, train future models, or sell it to third parties.
Openai’s Privacy Policy collects both personal information and confirms that we use data such as images and content submitted by users. Content will be preserved and used to improve future AI models unless the user opts out of data collection or deletion of requests via settings.
Cemper said that when face images are uploaded, they become vulnerable to misuse. That data can be scraped, leaked or used by identity theft, deepfake content or other spoofing scams. He also pointed to previous incidents in which private images were found in public AI datasets such as LAION-5B, which are used to train a variety of tools such as stable diffusion.
Copyright and licensing considerations
There is also concern that AI-generated content styles are being portrayed after recognizable artistic brands could fall into copyright infringement. Creating art in the style of Studio Ghibli, Disney, or Pixar may seem harmless, but legal experts warn that such works can be considered derivative, especially if imitation is too close.
In 2022, several artists filed a class action lawsuit against an AI company, claiming that the model was trained in original artwork without consent. The case reflects a broader conversation about how innovation and creator rights can be balanced as generative AI is used more widely.
Cemper also advised users to carefully review terms and conditions on their AI platform. Many include license terms in languages such as “transferable rights,” “non-exclusive,” or “irrevocable license,” allowing the platform to reproduce, modify or distribute submitted content even after the app is deleted.
“The deployment of ChatGpt’s 4o image generator shows how powerful AI has become as it replicates its iconic artistic style with just a few clicks. However, this unprecedented feature makes the line between creativity and piracy more and more blurred,” says Cemper.
“The rapid pace of AI development also raises great concerns about privacy and data security. There is an urgent need for a more clear and transparent privacy policy. Users must make informed decisions about uploading photos and personal data.”
Search interest for “ChatGpt Studio Ghibli” has increased by more than 1,200% over the past week, but in addition to creativity and viral, there is a wave of serious issues with privacy, copyright and data use. When AI image tools become more sophisticated and accessible, users may want to think twice before uploading personal images, especially if they don’t know where the data is in the end.
(Images from YouTube Fireship)
See: Midjourney V7: Fastest AI Image Generation
Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out the AI & Big Data Expo in Amsterdam, California and London. The comprehensive event will be held in collaboration with other major events, including the Intelligent Automation Conference, Blockx, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.
Check out other upcoming Enterprise Technology events and webinars with TechForge here.
