Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki once condemned an animated in-game character generated using artificial intelligence (AI). While the use of AI was disturbing at the time, a few young developers used this to their advantage.
The renowned Japanese animator once suggested that a certain form of model animation generated by AI was “an insult to life.”
While the narrative that Miyazaki said AI in its entirety was “an insult to life” is consistently told among anime fans and social media nerds, what he was referring to was different.
The master illustrator behind hit animations such as Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle was approached by young video game developers who showed him an AI-generated animation.
This clip was taken from a 2016 documentary called Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki, in which these youngsters showed the master illustrator an animation demo of a zombie that could potentially be used in a video game.
It’s safe to say Miyazaki wasn’t taken with these primitive AI animations, which, at the time, moved in disturbingly abhuman ways.
Miyazaki expressed that he was “utterly disgusted” and said he “would never wish to incorporate this technology into (his) work at all.”
The mastermind behind one of the world’s oldest and most beloved animation studios expressed his disgust for these “grotesque movements” while subsequently sharing a story about his friend who suffers from a disability.
The zombie’s movements seemed to remind Miyazaki of his suffering friend. He declared that “whoever creates this stuff has no idea what pain is.”
You might think that the young game developers’ careers were over before they even started, after invoking such a viscerally negative reaction from one of the geniuses behind Studio Ghibli – but it didn’t stop them.
These youngsters went on to create the motion-life evolution game Anlife, an evolution simulator that features a version of the creatures that seemingly disturbed Miyazaki so deeply.
Miyazaki’s reaction ten years ago seemed to help Attructure, the developers behind the game, to receive “very positive” reviews on Steam.
Some users have compared it to Spore, another simulation game where players become God and have dominion over strange little creatures.
The game, which was released on Steam in February 2026, has since renewed interest in Miyazaki’s tirade regarding AI art.
Following the release of ChatGPT’s image generator last year, people began creating Studio Ghibli animations using AI.
Many people denounced this trend, calling it unethical and an insult to Miyazaki, who helped found Studio Ghibli in 1985.
"It’s honestly disgusting how AI is being used to rip off Studio Ghibli’s work. Their art isn’t just some ‘style’ for people to copy. It’s the result of decades of passion, skill, and effort. Now, people are churning out lifeless AI-generated imitations in seconds, probably trained on stolen artwork without a second thought,” said a Reddit user.
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