Studio Ghibli co-founder Toshio Suzuki has finally addressed the trend of AI-generated "Ghibli-style" images in an interview with the Asahi Shimbun, saying the phenomenon has already run its course. When asked if artificial intelligence can authentically mimic a Studio Ghibli work, Suzuki was direct: "No."

The producer explained that while generative AI can produce certain types of animation, trained animators can easily spot the difference. More importantly, Suzuki argued that AI fundamentally cannot replicate the intentionality behind Ghibli's aesthetic choices. He used My Neighbor Totoro as an example: when Miyazaki draws someone pressing the character's stomach, he carefully renders a depression in the surface. That simple action, Suzuki noted, represents a level of deliberate detail that CGI and AI cannot achieve.

Suzuki also revealed that Hayao Miyazaki has no knowledge of generative AI at all. During production of the 2023 Academy Award-winning The Boy and the Heron, Miyazaki deliberately isolated himself from outside information—he abandoned his smartphone, stopped reading newspapers and watching television, and even limited his social interactions. That extreme separation from the flow of information is entirely at odds with how AI operates, Suzuki observed, since generative AI is built on aggregating vast amounts of data.

When pressed about whether Miyazaki will direct another feature film, Suzuki offered a candid answer: Miyazaki has the desire to create more work, but the question of whether his body will allow it remains uncertain. That said, Suzuki noted the legendary animator continues to develop unusual conceptual ideas—pointing to the Panorama Box exhibition at Ghibli Park as evidence that Miyazaki's creative energy hasn't diminished.

Suzuki has served as a producer on nearly all of Studio Ghibli's major films, from Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind through The Boy and the Heron. His comments represent the first time the studio has publicly addressed the wave of AI-generated fan art that mimicked Ghibli's distinctive visual style.