The latest internet craze is capturing the attention of millions: AI art created in the style of Ghibli movies. Since the excited social media users began posting animated ‘Ghibli-styled’ portraits, photos taken in real life have been converted to images resembling those from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki’s films. Users, celebrities, and even world leaders are jumping on the trend. Bit by bit, everyone around the globe seems to want to lay their hands on it. What sparked this phenomenon’s origin, and why is it taking the internet by storm?
Seattle’s software engineer Grant Slatton is regarded as the one who began the sensational trend. After the advanced image generation features of the Open AI were brought to light, Slatton posted a zoomed-in AI-generated photo of his family and their pet on an X (formerly Twitter) account. His rather comical caption claimed that making Ghibli-style art out of personal pictures was bound to dazzle friends and family. The post resonated with many people as it started gaining the views of millions and motivated others to use the technique.
tremendous alpha right now in sending your wife photos of yall converted to studio ghibli anime pic.twitter.com/FROszdFSfN
— Grant Slatton (@GrantSlatton) March 25, 2025
Although AI-generated anime-style images are not a new concept, Slatton’s post went viral at the perfect moment. With the recent updates from OpenAI, creating high-quality anime images has never been easier. Unlike before when generating such images needed elaborate prompts, now a casual request “convert this to Studio Ghibli style” is enough. People’s love for Miyazaki’s work coupled with the new ease of generating such images made the trend inevitable.
More and more people started interacting with the tool and the trend picked up momentum. This was amplified when notable politicians and several celebrities posted their versions, contributing even more to the surge of interest in it. The joy surrounding the idea of people’s mundane activities being transformed into fanciful animated templates fostered positive engagement on social media. Users recounted heartwarming tales that many enjoyed in the company of friends and family reinvented in fun Ghibli-style animations.
Though the phenomenon has received widespread acclaim, it has taken the opportunity to reignite discussions on AI and copyright ethics. Studio Ghibli’s emblematic design is the result of painstaking artistic labor over many years, and how much AI-generated replicas disrespect that legacy is a matter of debate. Furthermore, the matter of AI scraping copyrighted content without the consent of the artists remains a heated issue. Some enthusiasts of traditional animation are deeply concerned about the ability of a machine to imitate the imagination of a human creator.
The AI Ghibli trend serves as an illustration of how rapidly technology is changing the landscape of digital art and creativity. As AI keeps on advancing in artistic and design domains, the discussion around the intended use of such tools and morality will remain. In the meanwhile, millions are cherishing the strange yet beautiful reinterpretation of their memories, which demonstrates yet again how fast technology can pivot cultural touchstones.
