Ai-Da robot sells artwork for $1 million

We live in the age of AI artists and AI museums, so the fact that an AI-powered robot recently made bank at an art auction should come as no surprise. But we talk the bank.

Ai-Da, the short-haired, lifelike robot whose portraits and artwork are now the stuff of modern fiction, has become the first humanoid robot to sell a work at auction (though not the first AI-produced work to be sold at auction. ). Last Thursday, Ai-Da’s portrait of scientist, mathematician, and WWII Enigma code-breaker Alan Turing sold for a whopping $1.08 million at Sotheby’s.

Part of a Digital Art Sale Auction, titled work AI Lord (first shown in May at the United Nations in Geneva during the AI ​​for Good Global Summit) was estimated to sell for between $120,000 and $180,000 and saw 27 bids before an anonymous buyer claimed the winner.

Ai-Da, the world’s first professional robot created by Ai-Da Robot Studios director Aidan Meller and his team, has eye cameras, a robotic arm, and speaks using an AI language model — we interviewed Ai-Da and she can confirm, he likes conversation. Meller explained that Ai-Da chose Turing as the subject.

“We’re talking to Ai-Da, using her AI language model, about what she’d like to paint,” Meller said in a press release. “This time, we had a conversation with him about ‘AI for good’ which led to Ai-Da’ bringing up Alan Turing as an important figure in the history of AI that he wanted to paint.”

Meller said the team then discussed the style with Ai-Da; what kind of texture, tone, and color the piece can incorporate. The team showed Ai-Da a picture of Turing to study, and the algorithm went to work making decisions.

“Ai-Da then uses the cameras in his eyes to look at a picture of Alan Turing next to his drawing of AI and algorithms and his robotic arm to make the first drawings followed by several drawings of Alan Turing,” Keller said.

Of course, Ai-Da also draws on existing art to inform the style of the episode. According to Suthu, Ai-Da’s art “was inspired by Pablo Picasso Guernica and Doris Salcedo Atrabiliariosbooks that express the suffering of people through different, distorted beauty. In particular, Ai-Da’s fractured visual style, similar to that of Käthe Kollwitz and Edvard Munch, rejects pure representation, opting instead for a reflection of the technological and intellectual breakdowns that characterize modern life.”

Ai-Da’s infamous robot arm.
Credit: Ai-Da Robot Studios

In the finished work, Ai-Da completed dozens of ink drawings of Turing using a robotic arm before painting 15 different A3-sized versions of Turing’s face, using up to 10 colors in both oil and acrylic paint, each taking six to eight hours. . The team then asked Ai-Da how these drawings should be put together.

“Because AI Lord“Ai-Da chose three of the 15 photos of Alan Turing, alongside a sketch he had done of Alan Turing’s Bombe machine,” explained Meller. Park during World War II.

“The drawing of the Bombe machine is visible on the back of the finished image – note the circular symbols that describe the Ai-Da dial on the Bombe machine,” says Meller. “Three sketches of Alan Turing and a sketch of the Bombe machine, all selected by Ai-Da, were then photographed and uploaded to the computer where the final image was put together based on a conversation with Ai-Da (using a model of his language) about what he wanted for the artwork what did the last one look like.”

Three pictures selected by Ai-Da.
Credit: Ai-Da Robot Studios

The final artwork sold at auction was printed on a large canvas. But like many artists over the centuries (from Michelangelo to Hirst), Ai-Da had the help of a studio – human assistants added extra texture. “This is because the Ai-Da robot painting arm cannot extend to a large canvas and is limited to an A3 size canvas,” said Meller. “There is no change to the basic image in this process. Ai-Da then adds marks and textures to the final canvas to complete the artwork. The shape and color of these marks is decided by Ai-Da based on a conversation about what he wants to do.”

This is not the first time that Ai-Da’s artistic work has made headlines. In 2022, Ai-Da’s solo exhibition “Leaping into the Metaverse” ran during the Venice Biennale, and Ai-Da has exhibited at the London Design Biennale, London Design Festival, Ashmolean Museum, V&A, Tate Modern, and has hosted many events. artist residencies. Ai-Da painted the Queen and 2022 Glastonbury headliners including Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar, and Billie Eilish. So this kind of publishing is in the AI ​​artist’s day job.

Of course, Ai-Da gave a press statement AI Lord:

“An important value of my work is its ability to act as an initiator of discussions about emerging technologies. AI Lorda portrait of the pioneering Alan Turing, invites viewers to ponder the god-like nature of AI and computing while considering the ethical and social implications of these developments. Alan Turing saw this power, and it is staring at us, as we chase this future. “

Ai-Da and “AI God.”
Credit: Ai-Da Robot Studios

AI-generated art has become a touchy subject area, with forums like Midjourney, DALL-E, Gemini, Stable Diffusion, and others sparking debates about everything from misinformation to historical impropriety, copyright infringement, and threats work. But the first AI-generated art dates back to the ’70s – and interest from the art industry, researchers, and the public alike in AI artists has been undeniably growing over the past few years.

In 2019, AICAN, a semi-autonomous AI artist, presented his first exhibition at a full gallery in Chelsea. Today, a 20,000-square-foot museum of AI-generated art is about to open in Los Angeles.

In 2018, Christie’s became the first auction house to offer art created by an algorithm, selling it created by AI. Edmond de Belamy, of La Famille de Belamy for $432,500. Today, Ai-Da’s million dollar payday proves that AI artists aren’t going anywhere, and neither are their clients.