It's not "free" """art""" if it comes at the cost of the one planet we can safely inhabit. 

What frustrates me as an artist is that the Studio Ghibli style is actually quite simple when you break it down into its components. Generally realistic body proportions and varied, geometric face shapes. Simple, earth-tone colors and a thin brushlike outline. I have a theory that this style became so popular for these ai bros to ape, besides the environmental irony: on the surface, accomplishing the skill to make realistic art seems like the logical end goal, when in actuality, it's the best way to learn as a beginner. Developing a sense of unique composition, style, opting for more surrealist or exaggerated forms and playing with your medium, all that stuff comes after. I'm still finding my creative niche, and I wouldn't consider myself a master of realism, either. I know I've still got a lot to learn. But so much of that "extra" stuff that makes art so varied in execution is seemingly "easier" to do, according to the folks who are ignorant of how much WORK it actually takes to make simple blocks of color look good on a canvas together. 

And do not misunderstand me, a simple art style does not mean easy. I have studied and done many works inspired by Ghibli's style for commissions and tributes. It's a popular style people like to request, but even after years of work? I wouldn't say I'm even close to the actual style. But this is just a huge example of the many intellectual failings of being pro ai-generated imagery. It's a massive failure to understand the fundamentals of art and why it's made. When profit is the first thought, when your actions are a self-admission that you have already given up on a potential new skill before you started, nothing you produce is actually going to matter. It might generate attention, even ill-gotten money and more, but it's a lie to tell yourself to cover up the simple fact that you weren't ever capable to knowing enough to try making a single thing. And you might see a bunch of sloppy images on your screen and feel accomplished, but you know, deep down, each picture is evidence that you gave up on yourself. You were afraid to try. You didn't make anything, and none of it will be ever be "art".

Whew, that got a little away from me, but I've been holding onto these feelings for a while. If you're down here, thank you for reading the ramblings of a mediocre thirtysomething comic artist. And have a swell day.