First Humanoid Robot-Painted Piece of Art to Sell at Auction Brings $1 Million

The first piece of art created by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction was a portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing, which brought US$1.08 million (£566,000, A$1.63 million) on Thursday in New York.

A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing is a 2.2-meter (7.5-foot) portrait made by Ai-Da, the first ultra-realistic robot artist in history. When it went under the hammer at Sotheby’s, it exceeded pre-sale estimates of between $120,000 and $180,000, confirming that 27 bids were made on the piece.

“The auction house said in a statement that today’s record-breaking sale price for the first piece of art created by a humanoid robot artist to be put up for auction represents a turning point in the history of modern and contemporary art and the expanding relationship between AI technology and the global art market.”

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“The key value of my work is its capacity to catalyze dialogue about emerging technologies,” stated Ai-Da, a speech-activated AI system.

Ai-Da said a “portrait of pioneer Alan Turing invites viewers to reflect on the ethical and societal implications of these advancements while considering the God-like nature of AI and computing.”

In the 1950s, Turing, a mathematician and pioneering computer scientist who was instrumental in the struggle against Nazi Germany as a codebreaker, voiced worries regarding the application of artificial intelligence.

Ai-Da is one of the most sophisticated robots in existence. It is named after Ada Lovelace, regarded as the first computer programmer in history, and is built to look like a woman.

Aidan Meller, an expert in modern and contemporary art, created Ai-Da.

According to Meller, “the greatest artists in history struggled with their time and both celebrated and questioned the changes in society.”

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Meller collaborated with artificial intelligence experts at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham, and he led the group that developed Ai-Da.

During a discourse on “AI for good,” Ai-Da, who comes up with ideas through conversations with studio members, proposed drawing an image of Turing.

Following a series of questions on style, color, substance, tone, and texture, the robot used cameras in its eyes to see a photograph of Turing and produce the painting.

According to Meller, the artwork’s “muted tones and broken facial planes” alluded to “the struggles Turing warned we will face when it comes to managing AI.”

“Ethereal and haunting,” he said, Ai-Da’s works “continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power.”

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