“Ghiblified by AI”: Viral AI-generated image trend in press narratives

This study analyses media narratives surrounding the viral Ghibli Trend. Its main aim was to determine which thematic areas of news feed titles the trend referred to, which sentiments dominated, and whether sentiment was linked to thematic areas. In this phenomenon, we noticed the possibility of filling a gap: understanding how AI technologies intervene in society and culture. This study also explored what press narrative dominated and how the media utilized it: to gain popularity and clicks or escalate ethical discussion. We identified the main press narrative thematic groups through quantitative content analysis with sentiment analysis of the news feed titles of 760 articles collected directly after the viral trend began. A sentiment analysis provided insight into the attitude towards the first, so massive, trend in generating images using an AI tool, presented by the press.