Aussie sporting teams in hot water with fans over new AI feature

Aussie sporting teams are in hot water after using a new AI feature that can generate artwork in seconds, in a move on the nose to fan bases and artists alike.

Two of Australia’s biggest sporting franchises are in hot water with some fans after using a new AI feature that can generate artwork.

A new trend, which surfaced thanks to an update to ChatGPT’s image generation function, has sent various corners of the internet into meltdown over its ability to mimic the art styles of prominent artists and animation studios.

One feature allows users to take photos and convert them into artworks that mimic the style of the famous animation house Studio Ghibli, known for movies such as My Neighbour, Totoro and The Boy and the Heron.

Several prominent Aussie and international sporting teams have hopped on the trend, but the response from fans has been less than enthusiastic.

South Sydney Rabbitohs posted a number of AI-generated copies of famous club moments on their Instagram page, but fans were quick to express their frustration with the choice.

AI-generated filters of famous South Sydney Rabbitohs players including Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis and John Sutton. Picture: Instagram

“As a longstanding club member, supporter and a grandson to a life member that won premierships with the club, I’m really disappointed with the use of AI here,” One Souths die hard commented on a recent post by the club featuring animated versions of club greats Sam Burgess, Greg Inglis and John Sutton.

“Internet trend or not, it impacts our livelihoods when companies opt for this over paying an artist. Some of my favourite designs and shirts I’ve seen the club do in recent years came from young designers Souths commissioned,” he said.

“A young artist would have loved to have been picked up to do a fun commissioned gig like this.

Another user said: “This is disappointing from Souths. Lots of great local artists that could’ve been engaged to create this. Their work would’ve been higher quality and less tacky too. This makes these famous moments look cheap”.

Fans of the Australian rugby union team were equally unimpressed with a Ghibli-esque post that went up on the Wallabies’ Instagram on Thursday.

AI generated images of Wallabies players. Picture: Instagram

“Would’ve been cool to hire an actual artist for this,” one fan said.

“Commission actual artists and don’t use AI slop,” another said.

A number of overseas sporting organisations have also become involved in the controversy, with major footballing and rugby-related pages coming under fire.

Europe’s biggest rugby competition is the Six Nations, and its Instagram account, with a million-strong follower base, disabled comments on a post that depicted players from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and France as AI-generated Ghibli characters.

AI generated images of Italian, English and Irish rugby players posted to the Six Nations Instagram account. Picture: Instagram

In successive posts made afterwards, commenters berated the admin for using the ChatGPT feature.

Globally renowned football page 433, with more than 76 million Instagram followers, was also caught up in the drama after it made a Ronaldo tribute post with AI.

The top comment garnered more than 6,000 likes, saying, “delete this in the name of Miyazaki”.

Hayao Miyazaki is the 84-year-old mastermind behind the beloved animation style of Studio Ghibli, which has produced over twenty critically acclaimed films since it was established in Tokyo in 1985.

Miyazaki has been an outspoken critic of AI-generated imagery, once famously calling it “an insult to life itself” during a meeting with staff.

Oscar-winning Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki speaks to the press in Tokyo on July 13, 2015. Picture: Yoshikazu Tsuno / AFP)

“I am utterly disgusted … I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all,” he said.

“It feels like we are nearing to the end times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves.”

Executive Director for the National Association for the Visual Arts Penelope Benton said the backlash faced by sporting organisations was “for good reason”.

“This isn’t just about one post. It is part of a much bigger issue around how AI is being used in place of real artists. Artists spend years developing their skills,” Ms Benton said.

“When big organisations use AI instead of hiring artists, it sends a message that their work isn’t valued.

“Studio Ghibli has made it clear they don’t support the use of AI in art. And yet we are seeing their distinctive style recreated using AI tools,” she said.

“We don’t know if their work was used to train the model, but that lack of transparency is a real concern, especially when so many AI tools are being trained on artists’ work without permission or payment.”

A still from the 1988 Japanese animated fantasy film My Neighbour Totoro, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten. Picture: Supplied

According to Business Insider, the studio has “few legal options to stop OpenAI from using its style”.

In the United States, individual works of art are typically granted copyright protection, but “general styles” such as the distinctly earthy colour palettes, hand-drawn characters and soft texturing of Ghibli films, are not.

OpenAI said it wished to “maximise creative freedom” with its new platform “while maintaining strong safety standards”.

“As with any launch, safety is never finished and is rather an ongoing area of investment. As we learn more about the real-world use of this model, we’ll adjust our policies accordingly,” a spokesman said.

The OpenAI website features a copyright dispute form that can be filled out and submitted to the company.

Rugby Australia and South Sydney Rabbitohs have both been contacted for comment.