AI-Powered Robot Artist Ai-Da's Portrait of Alan Turing Sells for $1 Million at Sotheby's Auction

Robot-created AI artwork sells for $1 million at auction

Artists might still be wary and skeptical of artwork by artificial intelligence, but art collectors are seemingly on board. Sotheby's recently held an auction for the first artwork made by a humanoid robot. And while the company was expecting the sale to fall between $120,000 and $180,000, the piece ultimately went for over $1 million, after a fierce round that saw 27 bids. The art, entitled A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing, was made by a robot artist called Ai-da (a hat tip to computer programmer Ada Lovelace). The robot project is headed by Aidan Meller, who has over 25 years' worth of experience in the art world. Meller says part of Ai-da's purpose is to blur human/machine relations. "The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," he told AI for Good. "Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current obsession with technology and its unfolding legacy. Is the so called 'progress' in technology something we really want, and if so, how should it manifest?" As for the work itself, Sotheby's said it was "inspired by Pablo Picasso's Guernica and Doris Salcedo's Atrabiliarios, works that portray human suffering through splintered, distorted aesthetics." It also said the style was similar to Edvard Munch, whose most famous work is The Scream. The work was exhibited at the AI for Good Global Summit at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland earlier this year before going up for bids. The Ai-da robot uses a combination of cameras in its eyes and an AI algorithm to control its robotic arm. All of that machinery is held within a body dressed as a woman with a bobbed haircut, dressed in overalls.

An AI robot's artwork just auctioned for more than $1 million | Digital Trends

A painting created by an AI-powered robot of British computer scientist and codebreaker Alan Turing has fetched $1.08 million at auction. The astonishing amount marks a record sale for a piece of art created by a humanoid robot, and is sure to provoke discussion about the effect AI is having on art and how it is created. Recommended Videos The painting of Turing was created by Ai-Da, an AI-powered robot introduced by Briton Aidan Meller in 2019 as "the first ultra-realistic humanoid AI robot artist." Sotheby's, which auctioned AI God: Portrait of Alan Turing on Friday, estimated that it would fetch up to $180,000, but the bids racked up, with the anonymous winner handing over more than $1 million for the piece. Ai-Da, named after Ada Lovelace who is widely recognized as the world's first computer programmer, comes up with ideas through verbal exchanges with her creators, and this time suggested painting an image of Turing during a discussion about "AI for good," according to an AFP report. The robot then selected the style, color, content, tone, and texture for the painting before processing a picture of Turing in preparation for painting the artwork. Using a robotic hand, Ai-Da is only able to paint on a relatively small canvas, and the final image was enlarged using a printer. Turing made significant contributions to computer science, cryptography, and machine learning, most notably for his role in breaking the German Enigma code during World War II and for formulating the concept of the Turing machine, which laid the groundwork for modern computing and AI. "AI God goes beyond a simple tribute, reflecting on Turing's profound question: 'Can machines think?'" Sotheby's said on its website. "This query is fundamental to Ai-Da's existence, as she embodies Turing's vision of machine intelligence capable of simulating human thought." It described Ai-Da's portrait of Turing as "a symbolic reflection on the blurred line between human and machine capabilities, particularly as she herself is a product of AI algorithms that allow her to draw, paint, and perform." Sotheby's said that in creating the image, Ai-Da "honors Turing as a 'god' of AI -- a figure whose insights made it possible for machines like her to enter domains traditionally reserved for human creativity." It noted, too, that the sale puts Ai-Da's artwork among those of famed artists past and present, marking a shift where machines are now part of the creative process. "Ai-Da's art, therefore, invites viewers to consider both the promises and potential pitfalls of AI -- a reflection on how technology can shape, and even redefine, human agency and creativity," it said. "Her art compels us to confront the evolving definition of what it means to create, to think, and to be as AI becomes more integrated into society."

Artwork by Humanoid Robot Sells for $1M at Auction, Exceeding Expectations

A humanoid robot raked in $1,084,800 for its portrait of AI pioneer Alan Turing at a Sotheby's auction this week. The artist, if you can call it that, is named Ai-Da, an homage to computer programmer Ada Lovelace. The portrait "AI God" garnered 27 bids and was originally expected to sell for between $120,000 and $180,000 (crypto accepted), according to the auction page. "Ai-Da's portrayal of Turing not only honors his legacy but also explores the broader, transformative impact of technology on human identity, creativity, and agency, making her work a significant milestone in both art and AI," says Sotheby's. Ai-Da was created by gallerist Aidan Meller in partnership with robotics company Engineered Arts and a team at Leeds University in the UK, Quintessentially reports. "This auction is an important moment for the visual arts, where Ai-Da's artwork brings focus on artworld and societal changes, as we grapple with the rising age of AI," says Meller, according to ArtNews. It's unclear who takes home the $1 million; we reached out to Meller and Sotheby's. Over the past few years, Ai-Da's work has been exhibited internationally, such as at the UN Global Summit on for Good in Geneva, sparking debate about what it means to be an artist. "I draw and paint using cameras in my eyes, my AI algorithms, and my robotic arm," Ai-Da says in the video below. "My artwork encourages reflection on the relationship between humans, machines, and creativity, offering a new lens to think about art." Each work from Ai-Da is unique and unpredictable, according to Meller, who argues the AI is creating original artwork with a camera- and vision-based method as if she is using her "eyes," brought to life with her robotic arm. This distinguishes her approach from the likes of AI art generators like OpenAI's Dall-E and Midjourney, he says, which mash up and rearrange existing artwork to the chagrin of human artists.

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

The "artwork" sold for a pretty penny at Sotheby's auction house this week. Who would want a painting made by a robot? I'm not sure, but whoever they are, they just spent an insane amount of money to buy it. "AI God," is a painting that depicts famed cryptanalyst Alan Turing, and it was created by Ai-Da, who is described on her website as being an "ultra-realistic robot artist." The work, which was sold at Sotheby's auction house in New York for over a million dollars this week, looks like this: The Art Newspaper writes that after 27 bids, the lucky winner walked away with the painting, having forked over more than a million dollars. You might find yourself wondering how it's even possible that a robot can make a painting. Ai-Da's website states that she is "capable of [both] drawing and painting using cameras in her eyes, AI algorithms, and her robotic arm." Ai-Da, herself, is the work of Aidan Meller, who describes himself as a "specialist in modern and contemporary art." Meller has said that he created Ai-Da in an effort to inspire a dialogue about "the current obsession with technology and its unfolding legacy." It's unclear who is going to keep the profits from the "AI God" sale, Ai-Da or Meller. Sotheby's auction house released a statement, here quoted by Barron's, that acknowledged the sale: "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’s portrayal of Turing not only honors his legacy but also explores the broader, transformative impact of technology on human identity, creativity, and agency, making her work a significant milestone in both art and AI," Sotheby's website states. Earlier this year, Ai-Da exhibited AI God as "part of a five-paneled polyptych at the United Nations" during a Geneva summit dubbed "AI for Good." After the sale of the piece, Ai-Da was quoted by Barron's as saying: "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies." All of this sort of begs the question: What is this for? Are people actually interested in buying paintings "made" by robots? If so, why? Personally, I have struggled to understand the appeal of "art" generated via software and hardware. While the entire thing can't help but feel like a weird grift or opaque PR for the broader AI industry.

Ai-Da robot just sold an artwork for $1 million. Yes, it made history.

We're living in the age of AI artists and AI art museums, so the fact that an AI-powered robot just made bank at an art auction shouldn't come as a surprise. But we're talking bank. Ai-Da, the short-haired, realistic robot whose self-portraits and artworks are now the stuff of modern legend, has become the first humanoid robot to sell a work at auction (though it's not the first AI-generated work 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 the auction house's Digital Art Sale, the work titled AI God (first shown in May at the United Nations in Geneva during the AI for Good Global Summit) was estimated to sell between $120,000 and $180,000 and saw 27 bids before an anonymous buyer claimed victory. Ai-Da, the world's first artist robot who was created by Ai-Da Robot Studios director Aidan Meller and his team, has cameras for eyes, a robotic arm, and speaks using an AI language model -- we've interviewed Ai-Da and can confirm, she loves a chat. Meller explained that Ai-Da picked Turing as a subject. "We converse with Ai-Da, using her AI language model, about what she would like to paint," said Meller in a press statement. "In this instance, we had a discussion with her about 'AI for good' which led to Ai-Da' bringing up Alan Turing as a key person in the history of AI that she wanted to paint." Meller said the team then discussed stylistic choices with Ai-Da; what kind of texture, tone, and colour the piece would incorporate. The team showed Ai-Da a photograph of Turing to study, and the algorithm got to work making decisions. "Ai-Da then uses the cameras in her eyes to look at a picture of Alan Turing alongside her AI drawing and painting algorithms and her robotic arm to create preliminary sketches followed by several paintings of Alan Turing," Keller said. Of course, Ai-Da also draws from existing art to inform the style of the piece. According to Sotheby's, Ai-Da's art "is inspired by Pablo Picasso's Guernica and Doris Salcedo's Atrabiliarios, works that portray human suffering through splintered, distorted aesthetics. In particular, Ai-Da's fractured visual style, similar to Käthe Kollwitz and Edvard Munch, rejects pure representation, opting instead for a reflection of the technological and psychological fractures that characterize modern life." For the finished work, Ai-Da completed a number of ink sketches of Turing using the robot arm before painting 15 separate A3-sized versions on Turing's face, using up to 10 colours in both oil and acrylic paint, each taking six to eight hours. The team then asked Ai-Da how these paintings should be assembled. "For AI God, Ai-Da chose three of the 15 portraits of Alan Turing, alongside a painting she had made of Alan Turing's Bombe machine," Meller explained. The Turing-Welchman Bombe machine was the device used by the team who broke the Enigma code at Bletchley Park during World War II. "The painting of the Bombe machine can be seen in the background of the finished portrait -- note the circular markings which are Ai-Da's interpretation of the dials on the Bombe machine," said Meller. "The three paintings of Alan Turing and the painting of the Bombe machine, all selected by Ai-Da, were then photographed and uploaded onto a computer where the final image was assembled based on a discussion with Ai-Da (using her language model) about what she wants the final artwork to look like." The final artwork that sold at auction was printed onto a giant canvas. But like many an artist over the centuries (from Michelangelo to Hirst), Ai-Da had the assistance of a studio -- human assistants added additional texture. "This is because Ai-Da's robotic painting arm is unable to stretch to a large scale canvas and is limited to A3 size canvas," said Meller. "There is no change to the underlying image in this process. Ai-Da then adds marks and texture onto the final canvas in order to complete the artwork. The positioning and colour of these marks are decided by Ai-Da based on having a conversation about what she wants to do." It's not the first time Ai-Da's work in the arts has made headlines. In 2022, Ai-Da's solo show "Leaping into the Metaverse" ran during the Venice Biennale, and Ai-Da has exhibited at the London Design Biennale, London Design Festival, the Ashmolean Museum, the V&A, Tate Modern, and has held multiple artist residencies. Ai-Da painted the Queen and the 2022 Glastonbury headliners including Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar, and Billie Eilish. So this kind of press is all in a day's work for the AI artist. Of course, Ai-Da provided a press statement for AI God: "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies. AI God, 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. Alan Turing recognised this potential, and stares at us, as we race towards this future." In 2018, Christie's became the first auction house to offer art created by an algorithm, selling the AI-created Edmond de Belamy, from La Famille de Belamy for $432,500. Today, Ai-Da's million-dollar pay day proves AI artists aren't going anywhere, and neither are their buyers.

First artwork by humanoid robot sells for over $1.0 million

A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching more than $1.0 million on Thursday. The 2.2-meter (7.5-foot) portrait "A.I. God" by "Ai-Da", the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, went for $1,084,800, smashing pre-sale expectations of $180,000 at auction house Sotheby's Digital Art Sale. "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," said the auction house. Ai-Da Robot, which uses AI to speak, said, "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies." Ai-Da added 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." The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art. "The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," said Meller. "Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy," he added. Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio and suggested creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "A.I. for good". The robot was then asked what style, color, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting. Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England. Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s, he added. 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 said. Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added.

Painting by AI-powered robot sells for $1.1 million

A portrait of British mathematician Alan Turing sold at auction for nearly $1.1 million Thursday, a surprisingly large sum for a painting whose creator wasn't an artist in the traditional sense, but rather a humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence. The experiment was the brainchild of Aidan Meller, a former gallerist living outside Oxford, England, who has worked with a team of nearly 30 people to build the robot. In most recent appearances, the robot is dressed like a woman with a bob haircut and is referred to as Ai-Da in honor of Ada Lovelace, the 19th-century mathematician who has been recognized as the world's first computer programmer. "I am trying to adapt to this slightly surreal moment," Meller said in an interview, recalling the final moments of the sale. The painting, which depicted Turing as the god of artificial intelligence, was offered as part of Sotheby's digital art sale and initially was estimated to sell for $120,000 to $180,000. It received more than 27 bids and was sold to an anonymous buyer from the United States. Meller said the proceeds from the sale of the painting, called "A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing," would help finance new improvements to Ai-Da's design. "We plow everything back into the project," he said. "She is constantly being updated. She is on her third painting arm already." It was not the first time that an AI artwork has sold at auction. In 2018, Christie's sold a painting made using an algorithm by a French startup for $432,500. Artist Refik Anadol sold several "Machine Hallucination" artworks made with artificial intelligence for millions of dollars during the 2021 NFT boom. Meller originally prompted Ai-Da to create something for a conference on artificial intelligence organized by the United Nations this year. The robot responded with a suggestion that it paint a portrait of Turing as an example of someone who predicted the power of AI technology as early as the 1950s. But the process of actually finishing the artwork was more complicated. Ai-Da's programming interpreted a photograph of Turing and produced 15 individual paintings based on different parts of his face. The robot chose three of the portraits, alongside a painting it had made of the Bombe machine, the large device that Turing and other code breakers used to decrypt ciphers generated by Nazi Germany's Enigma machine. The works were then photographed and uploaded to a computer that used Ai-Da's language model to decide on the assembly of a single painting, which was then completed using a 3D textured printer; studio assistants helped to create a more realistic finished product on the canvas. Ai-Da then added marks and textures to the portrait to complete it. Meller said Ai-Da was supposed to prompt discussions about the ethics of artificial intelligence and how technology is changing our definition of who -- or what -- an artist can be. "It is about the transferral of agency onto these machines," Meller said. "The artwork is saying that we are going into a period where we ask algorithms about what partner we want, what job we want, even what babies we want."

AI Artwork made by robot Ai-Da sells for more than $1m

The piece 'draws heavily' from Pablo Picasso, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, the art broker said. Luxury broker Sotheby's sold artwork made by the world's first "ultra-realistic" humanoid robot Ai-Da using artificial intelligence (AI) for more than $1m - significantly higher than the estimations, ranging between $120,000 to $180,000. The piece, titled 'AI God: Portrait of Alan Turing,' was created by Ai-Da this year and serves as a tribute to Alan Turing, the pioneering mathematician, whose work formed the basis for modern computing and AI. Purchased by an undisclosed buyer for $1,084,000 during the auction house's Digital Art day sale on 7 November, the large mixed media artwork on canvas draws inspiration from the works of 20th Century artists like Pablo Picasso and Doris Salcedo that "portray human suffering through splintered, distorted aesthetics," Sotheby noted, as well as the cautionary tales of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. Calling the auction an "important moment for visual arts," Aidan Meller, a UK-based art dealer and the creator of Ai-Da said in a statement to the press that "The artwork "AI God" raises questions about agency, as AI gains more power," bringing focus on the art world and societal changes. While Sotheby, in its description of AI God noted that "Ai-Da's portrayal of Turing not only honours his legacy but also explores the broader, transformative impact of technology on human identity, creativity, and agency, making her work a significant milestone in both art and AI." Named after Ada Lovelace, a computing pioneer, Ai-Da was launched in 2019 after two years in development where her creator Meller collaborated with roboticists, art experts and psychologists. Earlier this year, Ai-Da exhibited the piece at the United Nations during the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva - where, alongside her portrait of Turning, was a self-portrait of Ai-Da herself. "AI God goes beyond a simple tribute, reflecting on Turing's profound question, 'Can machines think?' "This query is fundamental to Ai-Da's existence, as she embodies Turing's vision of machine intelligence capable of simulating human thought," said Sotheby. Ireland's Cueva Gallery is a gallery entirely devoted to artwork made or inspired by AI - the first of its kind in the country. SiliconRepublic.com spoke to the gallery director Beth Jochim in 2020 who told us that the gallery works with "tech-savvy artists" to grant them exposure in new markets, but also with "traditional artists" who can explore AI without needing to know how to code. However, more recent events have soured the relationship between "traditional" artists and those who employ AI. Earlier this year, a copyright lawsuit filed by a group of artists against companies using text-to-image generators, including Stability AI, Midjourney and DeviantArt, was allowed to proceed by a US judge. While last year, Nightshade, an AI deterrent tool was made available publicly, for artists to "poison" images, making them unsuitable for AI models. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.

First artwork by humanoid robot sells for over $1 million

A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching more than $1 million on Thursday. "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 AI technology and the global art market," said the auction house.A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching more than $1 million on Thursday. The 2.2-metre portrait "A.I. God" by "Ai-Da", the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, went for $1,084,800, smashing pre-sale expectations of $180,000 at auction house Sotheby's Digital Art Sale. "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," said the auction house. Ai-Da Robot, which uses AI to speak, said: "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies." Ai-Da added 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." The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art. "The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," said Meller. "Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy," he added. Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio and suggested creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "A.I. for good". The robot was then asked what style, colour, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting. Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England. Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s, he added. 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 said. Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added.

AI Robot Artist's Turing Portrait Fetches $1.1 Million at Sotheby's - Decrypt

A portrait of computer science pioneer Alan Turing by humanoid robot artist Ai-Da sold for $1.08 million at Sotheby's, marking another milestone in AI art's rapid market ascent. The sale price exceeded pre-auction estimates building on momentum from previous AI art breakthroughs. The price nearly 10-X'd earlier predictions, which assumed that the piece wouldn't top $180,000 at auction. Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby's head of digital art, told Decrypt the timing reflected an emerging trend especially among younger people. "The combination of art and technology is gaining more interest," he said, "particularly among a younger generation of collectors." The 2.2-meter (7.5-foot) portrait titled "A.I. God" drew 27 competitive bids in Thursday's online sale, Sotheby's said. The work depicts Turing, known as the father of artificial intelligence, and seems to be inspired by the works of Pablo Picasso and Doris Salcedo -- according to Sotheby's. This sale follows a trajectory of AI art gaining institutional recognition, a trend that probably gained notoriety when Jason Michael Allen's MidJourney-generated "Théâtre D'opéra Spatial" won the Colorado State Fair's digital art category in the middle of the AI boom in 2022. Allen's piece, which required 624 text prompts and a lot of post-processing in Photoshop, sold for $750 -- a fraction of Ai-Da's achievement. But as controversial as it is, many artists are already embracing generative AI. From big names like Refik Anadol's Machine Hallucinnations to the works of amateur enthusiasts like Terrance Washington's "Country Woman" the fusion of human creativity and machine learning seems to be more intertwined. And this is exactly the message Ai-Da wanted to deliver with its artwork: Humans should reflect about the role of AI in the future of human society. "AI God's Alan Turing dissolving portrait reflects the transition from Human agency towards a posthuman world where algorithms make many of the decisions and Technology's influence is pervasive and integrated," said Ai-Da Robot, which uses advanced LLMs to communicate. The ultra-realistic humanoid artist's creation comes amid growing cultural impact of AI creativity, from chatbots developing devoted followings, establishing relationships with human beings to autonomous AI systems displaying emergent proto cultural behaviors in controlled experiments with minimum interference. And AI bots have proven very capable of making money all by themselves -- not just by making art. Most recently, an AI chatbot called Terminal of Truths generated enough social media influence to propel a cryptocurrency, Goatseus Maximus, into the top 100 digital assets by market capitalization, surpassing established tokens like IOTA and Zcash. "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies," said Ai-Da Robot, which uses advanced AI language models to communicate. The ultra-realistic humanoid artist, named after computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, generated the concept through studio discussions before using camera-equipped eyes to create the painting. The sale represents a pivotal moment for the $65 billion global art market, even as the artistic community grapples with AI's implications. Major online art forums have banned AI-generated works, with some communities going so far as to exclude human artists whose style resembles AI outputs, so a fully AI-generated artwork being sold by a prestigious auction house is an important endorsement for generative AI advocates. Sotheby's launched its Digital Art Department back in 2021, generating over $200 million in sales since its first operations. Many of these sales have included emerging technologies like NFTs and AI-assisted/generated artworks. Its curated list of digital art includes works from prominent digital artists like Rhea Myers, Pak, and the DJ Don Diablo. Ai-Da's "AI God" portrait was displayed at the UN's 2024 AI for Good Global Summit. The robot artist spent up to eight hours completing each of the 15 paintings in the collection, using fragmented imagery to comment on society's algorithmic transition. Turing, who helped crack Nazi Germany's Enigma code during World War II, warned about AI's implications in the 1950s. The portrait's style appears to reference these concerns, with patterns resembling the theoretical computer he designed visible in the background. Cuba Elliott, a curator specializing in artificial intelligence in creative industries, noted to Decrypt that while AI art auctions aren't new, Ai-Da's humanoid approach "helps to further broaden the definition of AI art."

First artwork by humanoid robot sells for $1.3m

London (AFP) - A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching $1,320,000 on Thursday. The 2.2 metre (7.5 feet) portrait "A.I. God" by "Ai-Da", the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, smashed pre-sale expectations of $180,000 when it went under the hammer at London auction house Sotheby's Digital Art Sale. "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," said the auction house. Ai-Da Robot, which uses AI to speak, said: "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies." Ai-Da added 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." The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art. "The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," said Meller. "Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy," he added. Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio, and suggested creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "A.I. for good". The robot was then asked what style, colour, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting. Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England. Meller said Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s. 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 said. Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added.

First artwork painted by humanoid robot sells at auction -- for a...

The first art piece painted by humanoid robot -- which was expected to fetch up to $180,000 -- shocked the crowd when it sold for a whopping $1.08 million. Sotheby's, the famed auction house, sold the painting in New York on Thursday after 27 bids were placed on the work. "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 AI technology and the global art market," the auction house said in a statement. The robot, known as Ai-Da, created the painting of renowned mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing entitled "AI God" with its own hydraulically powered hands. "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies," Ai-Da, which uses AI to speak, said. The robot added 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." Turing raised concerns about the use of AI as far back as the 1950s. Ai-Da is the brainchild of British gallerist Aidan Meller, who created the bot in 2019 in conjunction with Engineered Arts and the University of Oxford. Its artwork has been featured at places such as the United Nations and the Chelsea Factory -- and Ai-Da has given speeches at 10 Downing Street, the House of Lords, and the Founders Forum. "Ai-Da's portrait joins a selection of cutting-edge works that -- in their individual ways -- push the boundaries of artistic creation today," Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby's head of NFT & digital art, said in a statement to The Post Wednesday. "Together, they prompt a discussion of how we can appreciate and experience the ever-evolving possibilities around artmaking in the 21st century."

First artwork painted by humanoid robot to sell at auction fetches $1.3m

Portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing was created by Ai-Da, one of the most advanced robots in the world A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing has become the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching US$1.32m (£677,000, A$1.98m) in New York on Thursday. The 2.2 metre (7.5 feet) portrait, titled A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing, was created by Ai-Da, the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist. It smashed pre-sale expectations between $120,000 and $180,000 when it went under the hammer at Sotheby's, which confirmed that 27 bids were placed on the work. "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 AI technology and the global art market," the auction house said in a statement. Ai-Da, which uses AI to speak, said: "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies." Ai-Da added 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." Turing, a mathematician and early computer scientist who played a crucial role in fighting Nazi Germany by working as a code breaker, raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s. One of the most advanced robots in the world, Ai-Da is designed to resemble a human woman and is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer. Ai-Da was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art. "The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," Meller said. Meller led the team that created Ai-Da and worked with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham. Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio, and had suggested creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "AI for good". The robot was then asked what style, colour, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting. The artwork's "muted tones and broken facial planes" seemingly suggested "the struggles Turing warned we will face when it comes to managing AI", Meller said. Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added. In an interview with the Guardian in 2022, when asked whether she painted from imagination, Ai-Da responded, "I like to paint what I see. You can paint from imagination, I guess, if you have an imagination. I have been seeing different things to humans as I do not have consciousness."

Robot artist Ai-Da's portrait of Alan Turing shatters auction records selling for over $1 million -- a first for AI artwork

A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching more than $1.0 million on Thursday. The 2.2-metre (7.5-foot) portrait "A.I. God" by "Ai-Da", the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, went for $1,084,800, smashing pre-sale expectations of $180,000 at auction house Sotheby's Digital Art Sale. "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," said the auction house. Ai-Da Robot, which uses AI to speak, said: "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies." Ai-Da added 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." The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art. "The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," said Meller. "Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy," he added. Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio and suggested creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "A.I. for good". The robot was then asked what style, colour, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting. Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England. Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s, he added. 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 said. Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added.

Ai-Da: Painting by an AI robot sells for more than $1 million

A painting has become the first piece of art by a humanoid robot to be sold at a major auction house - and it sold for hundred of thousands of pounds. High-profile auctions, where people bid huge sums of money for artwork, are usually reserved for well known or respected artists. This painting, which is of legendary 20th century mathematician and war-time code-breaker Alan Turing, was sold for $1,084,800 (£836,667). The piece was only expected to fetch around £100,000 to £150,000. Ai-Da Robot is made to look like a woman, but has cameras in its eyes and uses artificial intelligence to create drawings, painting, and sculptures.

Sold.

A piece of artwork called "A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing," created in part by AI-equipped robot Ai-Da, went for almost $1.1 million at auction, writes The New York Times. There was a lot of human involvement, starting with combining the bot's paintings of parts of Turing's face: The works were then photographed and uploaded to a computer that used Ai-Da's language model to decide on the assembly of a single painting, which was then completed using a 3-D textured printer; studio assistants helped to create a more realistic finished product on the canvas. Ai-Da then added marks and textures to the portrait to complete it.

First artwork by humanoid robot sells for USD1.3m

LONDON (AFP) - A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing became the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching USD1,320,000 on Thursday. The 2.2 metre (7.5 feet) portrait "A.I. God" by "Ai-Da", the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, smashed pre-sale expectations of USD180,000 when it went under the hammer at London auction house Sotheby's Digital Art Sale. "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," said the auction house. Ai-Da Robot, which uses AI to speak, said: "The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies." Ai-Da added 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." The ultra-realistic robot, one of the most advanced in the world, is designed to resemble a human woman with a face, large eyes and a brown wig. Ai-Da is named after Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer and was devised by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art. "The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society's shifts," said Meller. "Ai-Da Robot as technology, is the perfect artist today to discuss the current developments with technology and its unfolding legacy," he added. Ai-Da generates ideas through conversations with members of the studio, and suggested creating an image of Turing during a discussion about "A.I. for good". The robot was then asked what style, colour, content, tone and texture to use, before using cameras in its eyes to look at a picture of Turing and create the painting. Meller led the team that created Ai-Da with artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham in England. Meller said Turing, who made his name as a World War II codebreaker, mathematician and early computer scientist, had raised concerns about the use of AI in the 1950s. 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 said. Ai-Da's works were "ethereal and haunting" and "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power", he added.

A.I.-Powered Painting of Alan Turing Sells for $1.1 Million

A portrait of the British mathematician Alan Turing sold at auction for nearly $1.1 million on Thursday, a surprisingly large sum for a painting whose creator wasn't an artist in the traditional sense, but rather a humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence The experiment was the brainchild of Aidan Meller, a former gallerist living outside Oxford, England, who has worked with a team of nearly 30 people to build the robot. In most recent appearances, the robot is dressed like a woman with a bob haircut and is referred to as Ai-Da in honor of Ada Lovelace, the 19th-century mathematician who has been recognized as the world's first computer programmer. "I am trying to adapt to this slightly surreal moment," Meller said in an interview, recalling the final moments of the sale. The painting, which depicted Turing as the god of artificial intelligence, was offered as part of Sotheby's digital art sale and initially was estimated to sell for $120,000 to $180,000. It received more than 27 bids and was sold to an anonymous buyer from the United States. Meller said the proceeds from the sale of the painting, called "A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing," would help finance new improvements to Ai-Da's design. "We plow everything back into the project," he said. "She is constantly being updated. She is on her third painting arm already." It was not the first time that an A.I. artwork has sold at auction. In 2018, Christie's sold a painting made using an algorithm by a French start-up for $432,500. The artist Refik Anadol sold several "Machine Hallucination" artworks made with artificial intelligence for millions of dollars during the 2021 NFT boom. Meller originally prompted Ai-Da to create something for a conference on artificial intelligence organized by the United Nations this year. The robot responded with a suggestion that it paint a portrait of Turing as an example of someone who predicted the power of A.I. technology as early as the 1950s. But the process of actually finishing the artwork was more complicated. Ai-Da's programming interpreted a photograph of Turing and produced 15 individual paintings based on different parts of his face. The robot chose three of the portraits, alongside a painting it had made of the Bombe machine, the large device that Turing and other code breakers used to decrypt ciphers generated by Nazi Germany's Enigma machine. The works were then photographed and uploaded to a computer that used Ai-Da's language model to decide on the assembly of a single painting, which was then completed using a 3-D textured printer; studio assistants helped to create a more realistic finished product on the canvas. Ai-Da then added marks and textures to the portrait to complete it. Meller said Ai-Da was supposed to prompt discussions about the ethics of artificial intelligence and how technology is changing our definition of who -- or what -- an artist can be. "It is about the transferral of agency onto these machines," Meller said. "The artwork is saying that we are going into a period where we ask algorithms about what partner we want, what job we want, even what babies we want."

A portrait of Alan Turing created by a robot has sold for €1.2 million

The sale marks the first time an artwork by a humanoid robot has ever been sold at auction and has been described as a "new frontier in the global art market." An AI robot's painting of Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, has made history, selling for a staggering $1.3 million (€1.22 million) at auction. Sotheby's reported that the digital artwork, titled A.I. God, received 27 bids and its sale well-exceeded expectations. Initially, it was expected to fetch between $120,000 (€113,000) and $180,000 (€169,000). The piece, created by Ai-Da - the world's first lifelike humanoid robot artist - marks a historic milestone as the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction. The auction house says that the sale "launches a new frontier in the global art market, establishing the auction benchmark for an artwork by a humanoid robot". Before the auction took place, Euronews Culture spoke with Ai-Da and her creator Aidan Meller over an online video call: "Alan Turing was a highly gifted mathematician and original thinker. And I'm glad this artwork, which was displayed at the United Nations in Geneva, brings focus to his contributions" said the humanoid robot. Ai-Da who was created in 2019 and is able to draw and paint thanks to high-tech cameras in her eyes, complex AI algorithms and a specially-designed robotic arm. Her work has gained global attention, being exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Venice Biennale, Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, and even headlining a solo show at London's Design Museum in 2021. Ai-Da is unable to create art without human involvement. Each of her artworks starts with an initial conversation using her AI language model; for example, she suggested Alan Turing for a portrait. After being shown a photo of Turing, she produced a series of preliminary sketches and paintings on A3 canvases. These sketches were then combined to create a final artwork. Aidan Meller, Ai-Da's creator explained the meaning behind the portrait's name: "This portrait is provocatively titled 'AI God'. The name reflects a major shift happening now: decisions are moving from human control, where people have full agency, to algorithms increasingly making choices for us. There is a transfer of decision-making power, and with AI's enormous potential, we might be approaching godlike capabilities that could impact massive populations." He added: "The hope is that this painting will prompt deep ethical questions as we continue to harness AI in new ways. How do we use this technology ethically and responsibly? And how can we ensure it benefits the planet and humanity, given its power?"

AI artwork of Alan Turing sells for record $1.3m at auction

A painting by an AI robot of the eminent World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing has sold for a record $1.3m (£1m) at auction. Sotherby's said there were 27 bids for the digital art sale of "A.I. God", which had been originally estimated to sell for between $120,000 (£9,252) and $180,000 (£139,000). Mathematician Turing was a pioneer of computer science and known as the father of artificial intelligence (AI). The auction house said the historic sale "launches a new frontier in the global art market, establishing the auction benchmark for an artwork by a humanoid robot".

$1.1 million for this? Sotheby's AI Alan Turing portrait leaves me utterly cold

Yet, as an artistic choice, this is already clunking and pedestrianly obvious - and that's before we consider the series of 15 "mixed media" paintings, "using" acrylic and oil, which Ai-Da apparently produced with her camera-eyes and robotic painting arm, after she'd worked on a series of preliminary ink sketches of Turing like a good little 19th-century student at the École des Beaux-Arts adhering to time-honoured methods. In the large, 90.5in-high portrait that was sold at Sotheby's - which, Meller explains, was "printed using a 3D textured printer" (because her painting arm is "limited" to an A3-sized canvas), before "studio assistants" (hang on, were they also robots?) added "texture" - dingy, ghoulish, seemingly pixelated but immediately recognisable fragments of Turing's face appear to float, like scraps of defunct debris, against a void as dark as outer space. This unexceptional, sub-Francis-Bacon image is then randomly enlivened with a few swirling marks and a handful of colourful blobs - two blue, one yellow (like an errant tennis ball), and a couple of artificial white highlights intended, I assume, to animate Turing's coaly eyes. Sotheby's insists that this represents a "significant milestone in both art and AI", and perhaps it is, when it comes to the latter (I have no expertise as a computer engineer). But a milestone in art? No way. This is a very sophisticated, dressed-up version of those periodic news stories about farmyard animals that can supposedly paint like Pablo Picasso.