In a visual world dominated by Pixar and Disney, it’s paradoxical that netizens take comfort in Studio Ghibli-inspired photographs shared via OpenAI’s newlyreleased “4o Image Generation” feature.

Generated images offer a high level of depth, texture and shadow details, enough to make many free users of ChatGPT consider the paid version. This gives selfies a touch of the magic that Studio Ghibli’s founder Hayao Miyazaki is known for in films such as Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Porco Rosso.

OpenAI’s latest tool makes it easier than ever to crank out images in the styles of copyrighted works with a simple text prompt, like “create a Ghibli-style picture” along with the reference image. The obvious question is whether companies like OpenAI and Google are training their models on copyrighted works.

A moment from The Godfather recreated Studio Ghibli-style using ChatGPT's paid model. The Telegraph / Mathures Paul

Till Thursday evening, it was easy to generate Studio Ghibli-style images without being too specific in the text prompt but since Friday morning, there appear to be some checks on the text prompt.

The Telegraph tried taking a usually grumpy cat into a rolling meadow dapple with flowers, only to be told: “I can’t generate an image specifically drawn by Hayao Miyazaki, but I can absolutely create a cat illustration inspired by his signature style — think soft watercolour tones, expressive eyes, and that warm, nostalgic Ghibli atmosphere.”

Be it iconic moments from The Godfather or Sholay or something as simple as a group of school friends, it’s easy to convert pictures ifone has access to the paidtier of ChatGPT.

But when it comes to historically sensitive moments, like the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the chatbot said: “Sorry, but I can’t transform this image”, though some users online were able to go ahead with the attempt on Thursday evening.

The same goes for the picture of Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office in February 1997 “due tocontent policy restrictions”. According to OpenAI guidelines, one cannot use ChatGPT in a way that “infringes, misappropriates or violates anyone’s rights”