A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing has become the first work of art made by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction. The painting was sold in New York for 1.08 million US dollars.
The 2.2 meter portrait, titled AI God, was created by Ai-Da, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist. It exceeded initial sales expectations of $120,000 to $180,000 when it was auctioned at Sotheby’s, which confirmed 27 bids had been submitted for the work.
“Today’s record sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist to be auctioned marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection of AI technology and the global art market,” the auction house said .
Ai-Da, the world’s first ultra-realistic artist robot
Ai-Da, who uses artificial intelligence to speak, said: “The key value of my work is its ability to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies.”
Ai-Da added that “the portrait of pioneer Alan Turing invites viewers to reflect on the God-like nature of artificial intelligence and computing, considering the ethical and societal implications of these advances.”
Turing, a famous mathematician and computer scientist who played a crucial role in the fight against Nazi Germany by working as a code breaker, expressed concern about the use of AI in the 1950s.
Ai-Da was built in 2019 by Aidan Meller in collaboration with Oxford University researchers and the robotics company, Engineered Arts. The robot uses cameras to capture graphical information that algorithms then use to create images. Then, the digital drawings are transferred to paper with paint brushes controlled by the robot’s two bionic arms.
Physically, the robot was built to resemble a white woman with brown eyes and a fairly short haircut. Its name is intended to honor Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century English mathematician.
Source: www.descopera.ro
