Burning

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By the end of March 2025, social media platforms were flooded with a popular new trend, as ChatGPT made its image-generating tool accessible to everyone. This innovation quickly swept across the internet, capturing people’s attention instantly.

A flood of people rushed towards an AI service, asking it to transform their pictures into depictions of Studio Ghibli characters. This trend was hard to ignore on virtually every social media platform, from TikTok and X to Instagram and Facebook, where profiles and avatars were filled with images mimicking the iconic heroes from Hayao Miyazaki’s movies.

On the other hand, the enthusiasm for this tool was met with equal amounts of opposition. Critics of AI took issue with users employing ChatGPT to create images they believed infringed upon Studio Ghibli’s intellectual property rights, labeling it a disrespectful act towards dedicated human artists.

In spite of this discussion, people surprisingly jumped on the bandwagon at an almost alarming rate. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admitted that the overwhelming demand for ChatGPT was so immense it threatened to burn out their GPUs, urging users to calm down so his team could rest.

can yall please chill on generating images this is insane our team needs sleep

— Sam Altman (@sama) March 30, 2025

Contrary to popular belief, a highly sought-after product doesn’t automatically translate into substantial profits. Instead, it appears that excessive hype might be draining OpenAI’s resources, according to industry experts like Mel Morris, CEO of Corpora.AI. In an exclusive conversation with TopMob, he suggested that this hype could be costing OpenAI more than they could possibly recoup in the near future. There are deeper issues at play here beyond ethical concerns.

AI expert says ChatGPT “losing lots of money” amid Ghibli fad

Corpora.AI serves as a resource for professionals to gather detailed, concise knowledge from a wide array of international content sources. As both the CEO of this company and an AI specialist, Morris comprehends the potential monetary strain these types of tools may impose on organizations, as well as who ultimately benefits from their use.

Morris explained, ‘We introduced this kind of service, and everyone finds enjoyment in interacting with it. You can observe individuals designing pictures purely for amusement. They then exchange these creations with their peers. It becomes a communal gathering point at their desks as they all find humor in the imaginative portrayals, either of an avatar or a realistic representation based on them, making it entertaining.’

There’s a rapid buildup of excitement surrounding this topic. Last night, I had a conversation about it, and someone commented, ‘Indeed, these individuals are using up GPUs at an astonishing rate. In essence, they’re consuming GPUs so quickly, it’s as if they’re on the verge of ignition.’ They’re pushing their hardware to the limit, which in turn reduces the available capacity.

As an avid enthusiast, I’ve noticed an interesting development: The models we use for tasks like GPT and others are being run on the same hardware, often in the same cloud-based servers. Now, this exciting advancement has led to a surge in GPU usage, as we’re now asking these machines to handle even more demanding tasks.

However, if OpenAI isn’t profiting from ChatGPT, it’s actually these tech giants – such as Nvidia, Intel, and Apple – who are reaping the benefits. These companies provide cloud storage and services that power AI models like ChatGPT, thus gaining significantly from the viral Ghibli trend.

Cloud providers might find themselves amazed by the surge in demand for GPUs, while service levels for other revenue-generating services could suffer due to simple supply and demand economics. Overloading the same hardware with an unprecedented amount of workload will inevitably strain the bandwidth for GPUs.

In terms of its economic success, it appears fantastic! A significant number of individuals have begun utilizing this service. However, the downside is that we’re investing a substantial amount of money and likely losing more in covering the demand. Currently, AI vendors are unable to generate profits because the models they’ve created are inefficient for the tasks people are using them for. As a result, figures like Sam Altman are expressing sentiments such as, “Even at this price, we won’t be earning any profit.

“It creates a mockery of so many things”

Indeed, our discussion merely scratches the surface of ChatGPT’s popular Ghibli-style trend. This phenomenon drew a significant amount of critique, even from individuals within the anime industry, including the director of One Piece, Megumi Ishitani, who expressed her feelings as “overwhelming despair” over the trend.

The Vice President of GKids, the firm responsible for distributing numerous Ghibli films, shared a similarly critical perspective on the situation. “During an era where technology strives to mimic humanity, we are elated that viewers appreciate a theatrical experience that honors and cherishes Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s masterpiece in its entirety, with all its hand-drawn cinematic beauty,” he expressed.

In a contrast to the era where technology aims to mimic human creativity, Studio Ghibli’s ‘PRINCESS MONONOKE’ was once again released in IMAX and generated $1.2M domestically on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Vice President of Distribution at Gkids appears to express a subtle criticism towards the recent trend of AI-generated content based on Studio Ghibli artworks.

— ScreenTime (@screentime) March 28, 2025

Inquired about how artificial intelligence might impact creative domains and potential ramifications for multiple sectors, and his answer left us astonished.

Initially, Morris pointed out that distinguishing between human-made and AI-generated content is becoming progressively challenging, which might result in troubling scenarios down the line, such as falsified evidence in legal proceedings, for example.

In such situations, an individual on trial might fabricate a false video claiming, “I was wrongfully accused. Here’s what truly transpired.” This act undermines numerous aspects, much like how manipulated digital photos can deceive people. If taken to the extreme, this could potentially lead to serious real-life problems for us.

He further emphasized the rapid acceptance of technology, particularly in areas such as television and cinema. Notably, numerous genres within these fields are now heavily reliant on computer-generated imagery (CGI) that employs physics engines to generate realistic movement for various elements in an animated production, like snow or hair, for example.

It’s hard to believe how you manage to control that situation. Is it just? Absolutely not. Is it proper? It’s questionable at best. It’s a grey area, isn’t it? That’s about as clear as the issue gets. However, one thing is certain – AI technology is here to stay, and in my opinion, it’s highly improbable that legal challenges will succeed in the U.S. regarding these matters. There may be some groundbreaking court cases, and let’s hope they rule based on logic and fairness. If they don’t, then the window for change has already closed.

The value of human art vs AI-generated content

As a gamer, peering into the digital world of tomorrow, I can’t help but wonder about the role AI might play. Yet, experts reassure me that there’s still a glimmer of hope. Recently, I had a chat with Shouvik Paul, COO of Copyleaks – a company specializing in shielding businesses from AI-driven plagiarism and detecting AI use in their own projects. In his view, it’s highly doubtful that AI will ever eclipse the irreplaceable nature of human creativity when it comes to artistic expressions such as art, music, film, and beyond. It seems our profound appreciation for human ingenuity sets us apart, even in an increasingly AI-driven landscape.

People tend to assign different levels of worth to content created by humans versus that produced by artificial intelligence. Furthermore, there’s a psychological aspect to consider. For instance, it’s possible to create music without instruments or other means, and the result may sound impressive, correct? Nonetheless, I believe that we might eventually come to appreciate AI-generated music as well.

Will AI-composed music ever win a Grammy? It’s uncertain, as human-made creations tend to hold a unique emotional value for us compared to those made by artificial intelligence. This applies equally to artworks – while I may admire an AI-created painting in an art gallery, it wouldn’t evoke the same personal connection as one created by a human artist.

I might say something like, ‘This is stunning, but I doubt I would spend a million dollars on it.’ …It seems we generally assign a distinct worth to AI-created works, compared to those made by humans.

Although the surge of AI-generated content and the concerns it provokes among artists, such as Hayao Miyazaki, may suggest an imminent end, Shouvik argues that we’re not on the brink. People tend to appreciate more the creations they make themselves rather than those produced by machines. For instance, in Amazon, AI-written books don’t sell well, whereas classic films like Princess Mononoke still earn vast sums at the box office.

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2025-04-04 19:20