Latin America. You reach an age where the algorithm stops chasing you and you become a kind of viralization thermometer. I mean that —in the midst of my ignorance about the influencer ecosystem or the TikTok elite— if a trend manages to sneak onto my radar, it's because it's already truly massive.
Something like this happened days ago when, to my surprise, when I entered my networks I saw endless stories with photos of acquaintances turned into illustrations inspired by Ghibli, the famous Japanese studio. The one responsible for the trend?: ChatGPT and its new image generation functionality.
At first, I found this whole issue entertaining and, of course, the likes were not long in coming. It was fascinating to see how we were witnessing a paradigm shift in creative content creation.
However, after a few days, and in view of all the debate that has arisen in the field of intellectual property, I noticed a little more about all the social, professional and cultural implications of this phenomenon that is AI.
Intrigued by both sides of the coin, I turned to ChatGPT to talk to "him" about "him." I asked him about his stance on the recent scandal where he was accused of misusing AI, calling it plagiarism of the studio's arduous manual work and meticulous frame-by-frame technique behind films like Spirited Away and The Incredible Wandering Castle.
This was his response: "Legally, Ghibli-inspired illustrations capture a similar style, which is often seen as transformative and, in many cases, protected by fair use laws. However, I understand the controversy: Ghibli's distinctive art is well-loved, and some see it as appropriation or dilution. Personally, I believe AI can be a powerful creative tool, but there should always be a clear respect for the original artists and their legacy."
In the face of complex moral debates, ambiguous answers. Not satisfied, I dug into the legal side and found that Japan—as one of the main drivers of AI—has taken a surprisingly flexible stance on its implementation and copyright laws in the land of the rising sun. In fact, according to a report by DeepLearning.AI, Japan is the only world power that has explicitly legalized the use of copyrighted works to train AI models.
In other words, even if OpenAI had used images from Ghibli to train its models, it would not have broken any Japanese laws, so the studio would not be in a position to sue.
It's understandable that the creative industry is getting heated. Although I don't dedicate my life to this art and I work as a businesswoman – on the other side – it is impossible not to empathize from the human side. How can you not feel something when you imagine all the passion and work that most likely lies on the foundations of Ghibili – a name that, by the way, refers to the "hot wind of the Sahara" and that represents the studio's desire to "give a new air to the anime industry".
Undoubtedly, all this controversy once again puts on the table the undeniable need to standardize and delimit clear rules in the use of AI for the future, thus trying not to compromise the values that represent us as a society.
Morality and intellectual rights are not the only ones in check if we do not regulate AI rigorously. Creative inspiration, that spark that reconnects us with our inner child, is doomed to evaporate if we don't act responsibly. Likewise, the quality of education is at stake at the hands of young people who, to the regret of many, today pose with diplomas obtained at the hands of instant digital plagiarism.
Analysis carried out by Janeth Rodríguez Sarmiento, VP of Revenue Latam at Infobip.
