For the past few weeks, a remarkable phenomenon has overwhelmed social networks: the invasion of images generated by the latest Chatgpt-4.0 Upnai update, imitating the emblematic style of the Ghibli studio, founded by the Japanese director and storyteller Hayao Miyazaki. The buzz was immediate. And the enthusiastic welcome: everyone goes about their portrait, and we are now talking about a real “Ghibli effect ”.
Very quickly, a controversial debate was rightly established: violation of copyright, exploitation of personal data of the photos processed … without remuneration or authorization of artists. Beyond the legal issues, a philosophical reflection is also essential: what is the place of artistic creation in the face of imitation by AI? And what does the repetition of a motif imply which, by dint of being copied, can supplant the original? By favoring standardized reproduction at the unique work that inspired it, instant access to images takes precedence over its authenticity, especially when they feed a well -known narcissism on social networks.
But strangely, another debate, more underground, more tacit, remains overshadowed by the spotlight on these marked questions around intellectual property and the meaning of a work. We enthuse – or we are indignant, it is according to – technical possibilities of these reappropriations, without ever questioning an obvious point: why Miyazaki precisely? Why such a sudden craze? Everyone is free to judge whether the Ghibli effect is faithful to the style of the director, but it remains striking that almost no one wonders about this viral aesthetic adoption. What if, in reality, this style of drawing and animation conveyed something deeper?
Smooth and harmless imaging
Indeed, what do we see? Radious landscapes, dreamlike atmospheres and, above all, these self -portraits of users with soft and round faces, emerging like a graceful and pleasant enchantment. We are witnessing the emergence of imaging without roughness, without ambivalence. A visual style where everything is beautiful, where everything is kindly magical. Admittedly, the Ghibli studio produced works with varied tones, but what dominates in the popularity of the images generated by Openai AI is the reproduction of its most harmless aspects: charming decorations, childish faces – precisely because they are adults – and bright. A bucolic aesthetics, where sweetness and harmony reflect the nostalgia for an unacceptable environment, where the ugliness and the complexity of existence are dismissed in favor of a reassuring aesthetic.
A way to erase the harshness of reality and to abuse the world through a drawing which smooths each trait of a physiognomy frozen in an expression of licked happiness, premmed and, dare to say it, a bit pie.
A world of good feelings and mièrerie
Because what strikes in these digital images is their emotional conformism: everything is benevolent, colorful, cozy. They flavor a sensitivity which abandons a vision of ultra-normée interactions, without roughness. A sudden need for sweetness in this world of brutes that are embodied by social networks? Or the strong signal of an era in search of reassuring cocoons? Nothing is less certain.
The problem is not to appreciate the aesthetics of the Ghibli studio – there too everyone is free from their tastes, and the works of Miyazaki remain unique -, but to see how his appropriation by the generative AI encloses self -image in a kindness shackles. A norm that spreads, excluding disorder, bizarre, curiosity, originality, and thus becoming an instrument of visual standardization.
-Let’s do the opposite exercise: can we imagine the same ghibli effect with artists like Francis Bacon, with his distorted faces, his twisted bodies and his violent colors, a dive into human anxiety? Impossible. Could we use Egon Schiele, with its angular figures, its tortured nudes, its jerky features which express discomfort and carnal tension? Certainly not. Or even Hieronymus Bosch, with his universe tearing with hybrid monsters, grotesque scenes and allegories of vice? Even less. These counterexamples allow us to see this: the Ghibli phenomenon is above all a visual puritan effect, a prude and prudish moralism which, through its flattering cutery, reveals an underlying moral vision in this phenomenon of propagation.
An aesthetic at the service of a digital morality
It is a logic of moralization subtly conveyed through technology, more or less consciously, which reminds us that digital is above all a socio-technical device used as social regulation, even in its aesthetic codes.
By responding largely these idealized representations, it establishes a framework where the diversity of expressions and emotions-powerful vectors of social norms-is gradually reduced in favor of compliance that apparently waters, tensions, contradictions and, let’s say, the raw reality of social interactions on networks. It is the moral of the “gentle” adoption of artificial intelligence technologies.
The irony lies in the fact that this type of content, which seems innocent at first sight, in reality diffuses a one-dimensional vision of a so-called well-being, of touching happiness, within a virtual space however aggressive. With the Ghibli effect, we would almost forget that this digital world is also that of filter bubbles, generative bubbles, fake news, hatred, insults and technological discrimination that thrive on social networks.
Middle content: a risk for the cultural sector
The phenomenon is, in truth, the new version of a very skilful, well -prowled advertising tale, which should not be forgotten that it serves above all the promotion of Openai, by facilitating the playful adoption of its generative AI tools.
But behind this attractive staging is hidden a fundamental principle: the logic of the great models of language (LLM) is based, among other things, on a medium -sized mechanism – production of smoothed, recurring, predictable content. This mechanism could generate a concern for a concern in the entrepreneurial, cultural and creative worlds: a tendency of the public to spontaneously reject stereotypes perceived as artificial.
Ghibli studios could pay the price. Their work, however dense and singular, risks being reduced to a few easily recoverable iconic features, until there is an aesthetic weariness, as we turn away from a past fashion style. The moral of this pretty tale would then deserve reflection: what good is it to bother with the complexity of copyright, when AI can offer you an adorable world, thanks to Miyazaki, which makes you so cute and harmless?
