The Ethics of AI and Creativity: When Are We Innovating or Appropriating?
When AI Becomes a Marketing Gimmick at the Expense of Creators
“Are we evolving creatively with AI—or just training it to mindlessly consume and discard, much like we do with social media?”
I’m all for innovation—but watching a legendary creator like Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli publicly have his life’s work repurposed without consent feels deeply unsettling. If OpenAI launched a tool that let anyone generate music in Taylor Swift’s exact style using her IP—and actively promoted it—it would either be shut down in an instant or done in partnership. So why is it different for other iconic creators and artists?
We should celebrate AI’s potential, but not at the cost of exploiting the very artists who shaped entire industries. And when Sam Altman boasts about onboarding over a million new users in an hour off the back of this ‘little gimmick,’ it raises serious questions about where we draw the line between innovation and appropriation.
AI’s Celebration of Art or a Calculated Commercial Move?
For me, the difference here is that this wasn’t just AI enthusiasts celebrating a style—it was a calculated marketing push by OpenAI, specifically leveraging Miyazaki’s artistic identity. This isn’t like claymation as a medium or fan tributes like ABBA cover bands. To me, it’s more like a company launching an ‘AI ABBA’ using their exact sound and style as a promotional hook. That crosses into murky ethical territory, especially when the original artist had no say in it. They wouldn't try this so publicly with a bigger fish.
Miyazaki’s Style Is More Than Just “Anime”
Miyazaki’s artistic style isn’t just ‘anime’ or a general medium like claymation—it’s an instantly recognizable, deeply personal aesthetic within the genre. That’s why directly copying it has been so commercially successful. OpenAI had plenty of ways to showcase the power of their next model, yet they chose to single out Miyazaki’s style because they knew it carried immense cultural and artistic weight. And they didn’t just do it—they bragged about how viral and effective it was.
The Spectacle of Disempowerment
The media frenzy around this moment has put Miyazaki in an incredibly disempowered position—almost like being forced to stand in front of a class with his pants down while the world gawks, laughs, and pities him. How screwed up is that? Can we just be empathetic for a moment? Imagine working your entire life to build something truly unique, only to have a massive tech company extract it, repackage it, and use it for marketing—without your input.
Are We Cheering Innovation or Exploitation?
And the way the community is reacting? It feels less like a celebration of creativity and more like a group of tech bros high-fiving each other for ‘cheating the system’ and obtaining something priceless for free. That’s not innovation—it’s appropriation.
“We need to ask ourselves: Are we pushing AI forward in a way that respects creativity, or are we normalizing the extraction and commodification of artistic identities?”
Rethinking Our Relationship with AI
I want to encourage us to read between the lines and reflect on both our conscious and subconscious approach to AI—especially our growing sense of entitlement to this intelligence as just another tool at our disposal. If we’re not careful, we risk polluting our relationship with AI before we’ve even fully understood its potential, shaping it in ways that serve short-term wins rather than long-term creativity and ethical progress.
The way we approach AI now will set the tone for its role in creativity for generations to come. Let’s make sure we’re building something that respects and amplifies artistic vision—not just extracts and exploits it.