There’s always a new argument that divides the internet. How do you pronounce GIF? Yanny or Laurel? Are there aliens in area 51? The latest internet storm is OpenAI’s ghibli art generations
Everyones eating it up, every post on social media is a mix of “OMG, this is so cute!” and “This is an abomination! Artists are being robbed!”.
But hold up, let’s take a step back and think for a second: Why is everyone freaking out now? People were not giving two 
about artists’ rights when the internet was full of pirated music, movies, and books. But now, we’re all worried that the AI is stealing from poor 
, starving 
, destitute artists 
who have spent years perfecting their craft. Interesting timing.
Before you realise this is another narrative(rant) about the Ghibli selfies, lets talk about Sam Altman- the CEO of OpenAI, the masterminds behind ChatGPT and those magical AI image generators that turn you into an anime character straight out of a Studio Ghibli movie. Now, some folks are convinced that Sam is secretly gathering your selfies for… well, who knows? To train his models, obviously. Obviously…. 
.But hey, let’s be real. He’s probably using those faces to improve his AI’s ability to understand more use cases. You know, like teaching it to recognize not just your face, but your mood, your favorite pizza topping, and what not. Some folks have imagined that these AI models could one day help create hyper-personalized shopping experiences. Imagine walking into a store, and the AI instantly knows your style and fashion regrets (thanks, high school!). It’s like having a fashion-savvy friend, minus the unsolicited advice. Remember that FaceApp fiasco that had the internet in a tizzy a while back? The one that might have been secretly spying on users for the Russian government? Well, this is kind of like that, except instead of making you look old or giving you a mysterious filter, Altman’s AI might one day predict whether you need a latte or a nap. Spying? Ehh. Improving customer service? Definitely. But all with your face. It’s probably fine, right?
Before AI, artists were already battling image theft, copying, and “borrowing” work. Creative commons images? Essentially the internet saying, “Use it, no one cares.” Stock photos? Big business, but let’s face it—those images get reused everywhere. And ofcourse, piracy: music, movies, and books downloaded with little regard for artists. Did anyone care? Not really. Fast forward to the Ghibli-style AI art trend, and suddenly we’ve got an art revolution. Artists are protesting, and the internet’s rallying behind them… sort of. Let’s be real—how many of us cared about copyright issues before it went viral? Now, suddenly, we’re all defenders of artists’ rights.
It’s funny how fast the internet flips. A few weeks ago, AI-generated art was just a curiosity. But once those Ghibli portraits started flooding social media, 
. We’re all so concerned about intellectual property, even though many of us have pirated movies and music for years without a second thought. Hypocrisy, anyone?
But here’s the kicker: we’ve all been there. We’ve used pirated content. Heck, even creators themselves have been known to borrow a thing or two from others, knowingly or unknowingly. In fact, AI art is just another evolution in this never-ending saga of creative theft and remixing. The internet’s been trading images, videos, and ideas like a giant, chaotic art museum for years. So why does it feel like the AI art controversy is the thing that finally tipped the scales?
Maybe it’s because AI gives everyone a chance to “be” the artist, even if you don’t know the first thing about drawing. You can create a Ghibli-style image of yourself with a click of a button. Boom, instant creativity. But that accessibility comes at a cost. Suddenly, the process of creating becomes more about mass production than the soul behind the work.
At the end of the day, no one really knows where all this is headed. AI art could change everything—or it could be the next big fad. People could get tired of AI-generated portraits, or they could just get better at it and start making entire animated films with their selfies. Who knows? There’s a lot of excitement and a lot of uncertainty, and that’s kind of the beauty of it.
What’s important, though, is to keep a strong perspective. The world moves fast, and today’s outrage might be yesterday’s forgotten meme. It’s easy to get swept up in the latest trend or cause, but let’s not forget about it when something else grabs our attention in a few days. Artists have always fought for their work to be respected, but we’ve got to be mindful that we don’t lose sight of what really matters. After all, the AI revolution is just the latest chapter in the digital wild west. Who knows what the next Two-week-revolution will be about? I’d really like to see less Ghibli selfies tho 
.
