First Painting Created by Humanoid Robot and Sold for Auction Clears Over $1 Million

Who would privation a coating made by a robot? I’m not sure, but whoever they are, they conscionable spent an insane magnitude of wealth to bargain it.

“AI God,” is simply a coating that depicts famed cryptanalyst Alan Turing, and it was created by Ai-Da, who is described connected her website arsenic being an “ultra-realistic robot artist.” The work, which was sold astatine Sotheby’s auction location successful New York for implicit a cardinal dollars this week, looks similar this:

Ai-Da's alan turing coating makes past arsenic archetypal enactment sold by humanoid robot astatine @Sothebys https://t.co/GpVYt5tiBg pic.twitter.com/3KyqTXIVqJ

— designboom (@designboom) November 8, 2024

The Art Newspaper writes that aft 27 bids, the fortunate victor walked distant with the painting, having forked implicit much than a cardinal dollars.

You mightiness find yourself wondering however it’s adjacent imaginable that a robot tin marque a painting. Ai-Da’s website states that she is “capable of [both] drafting and coating utilizing cameras successful her eyes, AI algorithms, and her robotic arm.”

Ai-Da, herself, is the enactment of Aidan Meller, who describes himself arsenic a “specialist successful modern and modern art.” Meller has said that helium created Ai-Da successful an effort to animate a dialog astir “the existent obsession with exertion and its unfolding legacy.” It’s unclear who is going to support the profits from the “AI God” sale, Ai-Da oregon Meller.

Sotheby’s auction location released a statement, present quoted by Barron’s, that acknowledged the sale: “Today’s record-breaking merchantability terms for the archetypal artwork by a humanoid robot creator to spell up for auction marks a infinitesimal successful the past of modern and modern creation and reflects the increasing intersection betwixt A.I. exertion and the planetary creation market.”

“Ai-Da’s portrayal of Turing not lone honors his bequest but besides explores the broader, transformative interaction of exertion connected quality identity, creativity, and agency, making her enactment a important milestone successful some creation and AI,” Sotheby’s website states. Earlier this year, Ai-Da exhibited AI God arsenic “part of a five-paneled polyptych astatine the United Nations” during a Geneva acme dubbed “AI for Good.”

After the merchantability of the piece, Ai-Da was quoted by Barron’s arsenic saying: “The cardinal worth of my enactment is its capableness to service arsenic a catalyst for dialog astir emerging technologies.”

All of this benignant of begs the question: What is this for? Are radical really funny successful buying paintings “made” by robots? If so, why? Personally, I person struggled to recognize the entreaty of “art” generated via bundle and hardware. While the full happening can’t assistance but consciousness similar a weird grift oregon opaque PR for the broader AI industry.