A humanoid robot’s portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first of its kind to be auctioned on Thursday, selling for over $1 million. According to Sotheby’s website, it was initially estimated to sell for between $120,000 and $180,000.
The 2.2-meter (7.5-foot) portrait “A.I. God,” created by Ai-Da, the first ultra-realistic robot artist, sold for $1,084,800.
Sotheby’s says: “Today’s record-breaking sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist to go up for auction marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between A.I. technology and the global art market.”
Ai-Da Robot, using AI to speak, says: “The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies.” She adds that a “portrait of pioneer Alan Turing invites viewers to reflect on the god-like nature of AI and computing while considering the ethical and societal implications of these advancements.”
Meet Ai-Da
Ai-Da is a sophisticated humanoid robot with advanced AI. She has a robotic arm system with facial recognition technology and a language model to speak. She uses various unique algorithms to create art. Ai-Da, the creation of Aidan Meller, has exhibited at the United Nations, the Tate, London’s Design Museum and the V&A, and has written and performed poetry at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.
Ai-Da comes up with concepts by talking with studio members and proposed creating an image of Turing during a debate about “AI for good.” The robot was prompted to consider the style, colour, content, tone, and texture before it used its cameras to examine an image of Turing and generate the painting.
Turing, renowned as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician, and early computer scientist, expressed concerns about AI in the 1950s.
Meller says the artwork‘s “muted tones and broken facial planes” seemingly suggested “the struggles Turing warned we will face when it comes to managing AI.” He also calls Ai-Da’s works “ethereal and haunting” and says they “continue to question where the power of AI will take us and the global race to harness its power.”
Both artist and artwork, Ai-Da provokes conversations about the nature of creativity, the human/AI interface, and the unease it provokes.
Earlier this week, Disney announced the creation of a new business unit to explore the potential use of AI and other emerging technologies across its movie, television and theme park divisions.
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