For the first time in history, a painting by a humanoid robot artist will be sold at Sotheby’s
For the first time, a work of art created by a humanoid robot will be auctioned at Sotheby’s in London. The spotlight is on Ai-Da, an ultra-realistic robot artist whose latest work, a portrait of Alan Turing called AI God, will be one of the main lots. This work will be sold at the Digital Art Sale auction, which will be held online from 31 October to 7 November, and will become a landmark event in the world of combining art and modern technology, Interesting Engineering writes.
Turing’s 7.2-foot-long image is estimated to cost between £100,000 and £150,000 ($130,000 – $196,000). This outstanding scientist, considered the founder of computer science, was not chosen by chance. His portrait, painted in an abstract style, emphasises the complexity of Turing’s legacy through broken lines and contours, as he reflected on the possible risks associated with the development of artificial intelligence in the mid-20th century.
The auction will have a symbolic meaning for understanding how modern algorithms and innovations can change the approach to creativity. Ai-Da itself was created in 2019 thanks to the efforts of British gallerist Aidan Miller in collaboration with researchers from Oxford and Birmingham. Its capabilities are the result of the integration of artificial intelligence, cameras in the eyes and bionic arms, which allow the robot to create paintings without human intervention. With the help of advanced machine learning algorithms, Ai-Da is able to apply brush strokes independently, creating unique works of art.
The figure of Turing, known not only as a pioneer in the field of computer technology but also as a thinker who foresaw the risks of artificial intelligence, perfectly complements the concept of Ai-Da. The choice of this image symbolises the connection between the scientific achievements of the past and the prospects of modern technology.
Although this is the first auction for Ai-Da at Sotheby’s, her work has already been shown at a number of important international exhibitions. Since its debut at the Unsecured Futures exhibition in Oxford, the robot artist’s creations have been seen at landmark events such as the Venice Biennale and the United Nations’ AI for Good initiative.
In 2022, Ai-Da gained popularity for creating portraits of such famous musicians as Billy Eilish, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar, and Paul McCartney, who performed at the Glastonbury Festival. Her work is raising more and more questions about whether a machine can truly be a creator of art, as the boundaries between human creativity and the capabilities of artificial intelligence continue to blur.
