Ghibli fever and the endless AI makeover craze

Last week was a riot. The internet briefly slipped into an animated dream. My phone buzzed non-stop with friends eagerly sharing their Ghibli-style avatars. Even my usually tech-averse cousin sent me a picture of his dog. Believe me, the doggy had transformed, with oversized eyes and a dreamy pastel background. He could hardly hide his excitement: “He looks like he walked straight out of Spirited Away! Doesn’t he?” he gushed. I laughed and said, “Of course, yes,” realizing that even our pets weren’t spared from this AI makeover madness.

Everything looked a little dreamier, like softer faces, wider eyes, and a touch of that whimsical, storybook glow. It was, as if the world had stepped straight into a Studio Ghibli film. Social media feeds, too, overflowed with AI-generated portraits. It’s another reminder that, when it comes to digital trends, resistance is often futile.

It wasn’t just a passing fad — it became a full-blown digital phenomenon. People who had never cared for anime culture, suddenly found themselves enchanted. Even in my neighbourhood, where morning walks are usually filled with chatter about inflation and cricket scores, the conversation took an unexpected turn. Enter Gobblepreet Bhaiya, our self-proclaimed trend expert, who proudly flashed his animated avatar at me. “Look at my cartoon!” he declared, beaming like an Olympic medallist. I nodded and said under my breath, “Ghibli or not, you’ve always been a cartoon.”

Even Math Ma’am, my serious friend who frowns at miscalculated digits, couldn’t resist. She showed me a Ghibli-style portrait of her family. She and her daughters, smiling at each other with twinkling eyes, a dreamy brown in the backdrop. “I can’t believe you did this!” I exclaimed. She grinned and said, “Turns out, even math needs a little magic.”

Then came Kumari Didi, my house help, whose usual concerns revolve around salary hikes. That morning, she stormed in with a determined look. “Didi, you HAVE to listen to me today.” I braced myself for a negotiation. But no. “Make a ‘Ghubli’ image for me!” she insisted, mispronouncing it with an authority that even my phone couldn’t ignore.

The fever spread so wildly that even Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, had to step in. As ChatGPT’s image-generation tool struggled to keep up, Altman took to X (formerly Twitter) to plead, “Can y’all please chill on generating images? This is insane, our team needs sleep.” AI, it seemed, had become a victim of its own success.

That’s when it hit me…why do we keep coming back to these digital fantasies? Every few months, a new AI trend takes over, pulling us into a world where reality bends just a little. We become Barbies, high school seniors from a lost decade, or now, characters from a Ghibli dreamscape. Maybe it’s not just about the aesthetics; maybe it’s the sheer joy of transformation. It’s the real fun, the fun of seeing ourselves in a way, reality never quite allows.

I remember, the first time I tried one of these AI transformations. It was the Barbie AI edit…and I couldn’t resist the temptation to see myself with that flawless, doll-like glow. I sent it to a friend, half-joking, “Finally, I look like I get eight hours of sleep.” We laughed, but there was something oddly satisfying about it — like stepping into an alternate version of myself, untouched by stress and deadlines.

Then came the AI yearbook trend. A few taps on my phone, and suddenly, I was staring at a high school version of me, complete with a grainy filter and an over-the-top fluffy retro hairdo. It made me nostalgic for a time that wasn’t even mine. Maybe that’s the allure. These fleeting digital fantasies let us play with possibilities, escaping, just for a moment, the weight of everyday life.

Now, my Ghibli-style self stares back with impossibly large, innocent eyes. It is perhaps, a version of me that has probably never lost sleep over deadlines or wrestled with existential questions. And for that fleeting moment, I get it.

Until the next AI craze, that is.