OpenAI’s ChatGPT has taken the world by storm ever since its inception. However, over the past few days ChatGPT has introduced a new feature wherein users can now upload pictures, and convert them into a popular art form called Ghibli. This has led to millions of users turning to the Generative AI chatbot to turn their favourite image and add to the ChatGPT’s Ghibli trend. The volume of requests that users generated to add to the viral trend led Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI to request people to chill.
“Can you all please chill on generating images? This is insane! Our team needs sleep. We just haven’t been able to catch up since launch so people are still working to keep the service up. Biblical demand, I have never seen anything like it,” said Altman on X. Nevertheless, while this feature may seem exciting. There are various aspects that users may want to look at regarding the viral ChatGPT’s Ghibli trend.
Why ChatGPT’s Ghibli Trend is Bad for the Environment
According to a study by researchers at the AI startup Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University, generating one image using powerful AI models like ChatGPT uses as much energy as charging a smartphone to its full capacity. Creating images is one of the most energy-demanding and carbon-intensive tasks performed by AI, found the study. For instance, generating 1,000 images using a high-capability AI model like Stable Diffusion XL produces approximately the same amount of carbon dioxide as driving an average gasoline-powered vehicle for about 4.1 miles. Therefore, if the damage caused by one image generation using GenAI is so much, the amount of carbon intensive tasks being performed by ChatGPT could be unprecedented.
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Im addition to this, unprecedented use of Generative AI leads to greater water consumption as water is used to cool the data centers that power all the generative AI tools. So this would mean that the greater computational power required for image generation would translate into more water being used to cool data centres. Furthermore, ChatGPT’s Ghibli trend is free, which means that users may generate as many images as they want thus leading to greater demand.
Negative Impact of Original Creators Due to ChatGPT’s Ghibli Trend
Studio Ghibli is a renowned Japanese animation studio known for producing some of the most beloved and critically acclaimed animated films in the world. Founded on June 15, 1985, by Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, and Toshio Suzuki, it has gained global recognition for its artistic storytelling, imaginative worlds, and beautifully crafted animation. As of 2025, Studio Ghibli is 40 years old and remains an iconic name in the world of animation. Several fans of the art form have raised concerns over the implications of creating or mimicking iconic art forms such as Ghibli.
“This four second crowd scene from Studio Ghibli’s The Wind Rises (2013) took animator Eiji Yamamori 1 year and 3 months to complete,” said a fan of the art form highlight how much time and effort an actual Ghibli image takes. “Anyone who says, “Why’d it take so long?” or “AI can do it in minutes,” has zero understanding of art, animation, or the complexities of filmmaking,” adds another fan on X. The Ghibli trend has also led to concerns of creators, graphic designers, sketch artists and others losing jobs as AI can easily replace them. “As much fun as it is to create an awe inspiring art at command, art is often the result of someone’s years of accumulated emotions, skills and discipline. While cheering the technological evolution is a must, I find heart in humans pushing back with their own boundaries,” adds another admirer of the art on X.
