Sotheby's to Auction First Artwork by Humanoid Robot Ai-Da, Challenging Art World Norms

Sotheby's to hold its first auction for artwork made by a robot; bids could reach $180,000

Sotheby's will be holding its first-ever auction of artwork created by a robot later this month. The auction house's "digital art day" event will include "AI God," a portrait of Alan Turing created by Ai-Da, a "humanoid robot artist." Turing, a renowned mathematician and computer scientist whose work in cryptography was essential to cracking the German Enigma code during World War II, is widely considered to be the creator of modern computing. His "Turing test," developed in 1949, is also seen as foundational to the modern understanding of artificial intelligence. The 64 by 90.5 inch mixed-media painting was created by Ai-Da earlier this year, and is currently estimated by Sotheby's to fetch $120,000-$180,000 at the auction, which opens on Oct. 31. The Ai-Da Robot Project is the creation of Aiden Meller, a U.K.-based gallery owner and art dealer. Ai-Da, who is referred to as female by her creators, uses cameras in her eyes, a robotic arm and an AI algorithm to create her works. "As a machine with a fusion of electronic/AI/human inputs, her composite persona is the artwork, along with her drawings, performance art and collaborative paintings and sculptures," Ai-Da's creators say. The robot was created in 2019, and has had her work shown at the University of Oxford and the Venice Biennale. "AI God" was first exhibited in May at the United Nations. "By commemorating Alan Turing in my artwork, which was displayed at the United Nations, I aim to honor his contributions towards the foundation of modern computing and artificial intelligence," the robot said of the portrait.

Sotheby's to auction its first artwork made by a humanoid robot

Sotheby's later this month hopes to make the auction house's first ever sale of an artwork made by a humanoid robot. Ai-Da, a humanoid robot artist, is contributing "AI God," a portrait of Alain Turing, the mathematician and computer scientist considered to be the progenitor of modern computing, to what Sotheby's calls a "digital art day" auction. Turing is also credited with providing some of the earliest insights into what is now referred to as "artificial intelligence." The 64 x 90.5 inch mixed-media painting, which was created this year and is signed "A" by Ai-Da, is estimated to fetch between $120,000 and $180,000, according to a listing on Sotheby's website. The auction opens on Oct. 31. The Ai-Da robot, who is depicted as female, is a project created by U.K.-based art dealer and gallery owner Aidan Meller. The robot can draw and paint using cameras in her eyes, AI algorithms and a robotic arm. "What makes this work of art different from other AI-generated works is that with Ai-Da there is a physical manifestation, and this is the first time a work from a robot of this type has ever come to auction," Meller told CBS MoneyWatch. The auction also highlights the advent of AI in society, he added. "There is a lot of innovation happening -- a huge number of robots are coming forward -- and they will eventually do all sorts of different tasks. Art is a way of discussing the incredible changes in society that are happening because of technology," Meller said. Meller said the proceeds from the sale will be reinvested in the Ai-Da project, which is costly to power. "Ai-Da's portrait joins a selection of cutting-edge works that -- in their individual ways -- push the boundaries of artistic creation today. Together, they prompt a discussion of how we can appreciate and experience the ever-evolving possibilities around artmaking in the 21st century," Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby's Head of NFT and digital art, said in a statement. Even in the notoriously opaque and fickle art market, however, valuing AI-generated works could be a challenge, and more difficult than determining the market worth of works by human artists.

Sotheby's to auction painting by humanoid robot in a futuristic...

In a first for Sotheby's, the famed auction house will sell a painting made by a humanoid robot -- and it's expected to fetch up to a whopping $180,000. 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. Ai-Da is also outfitted with cameras for eyes and an internal language model, powered by artificial intelligence, that allows it to communicate with people and compose poems. "Through my artwork of Alan Turing, I commemorate his achievements and contributions to the development of computing and AI," Ai-Da said about her eerie painting, which is more than 7 feet tall, according to SWNS. "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." The human-presenting machine -- replete with a fashionable bob haircut, overalls, robotic arms and a flesh-like face -- is designed to be a performance artist, designer and poet. However, the bag of bolts cannot walk, and its creators assure that Ai-Da is non-conscious. 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. "In the 1950s, Alan Turing raised concerns over the use of AI. Ai-Da's portrait hauntingly evokes Alan Turing," Meller said in the statement. "Both ethereal and haunting, Ai-Da robot's artworks continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power." "AI God" is set to go up for auction this month as part of Sotheby's Digital Art Sale.

Portrait by humanoid robot to sell at auction in art world first

London (AFP) - The robot artist Ai-Da, a humanoid powered by artificial intelligence, will be the first of its kind to have a painting sold at a major auction house, organisers said Wednesday. The work, due to go under the hammer at Sotheby's in London next month, is described as a "haunting" portrait of the English mathematician Alan Turing, considered one of the fathers of modern computing. Entitled "AI God", the 2.2 metre (7.5 ft) high portrait is expected to fetch between £100,000 and £150,000 ($130,000 and $196,000). The online sale, featuring a range of digital art forms, would explore the intersection between art and technology, according to Sotheby's. The ultra-realistic robot is designed to resemble a human female with a face, large eyes and a brown wig and is one of the most advanced in the world. It works by using AI algorithms and has cameras in its eyes and bionic hands. Aidan Meller, gallery owner and founder of Ai-Da Robot studio, led the team that created it 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. In 2022, Ai-Da painted portraits of the acts headlining Glastonbury Festival including Billie Eilish, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney. Sotheby's Digital Art Sale runs from October 31 to November 7.

World's first robot artist Ai-Da to make auction debut at Sotheby's

Ai-Da, the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, is poised to make art history as her latest work, a portrait of computing pioneer Alan Turing, goes under the hammer at Sotheby's London next month. This moment marks the first time a humanoid robot's artwork will be sold at a major auction house. The portrait, titled AI God, is a striking 7.2-foot-high painting of Turing, widely regarded as a foundational figure in the development of modern computing. With an estimated value ranging from £100,000 to £150,000 ($130,000 to $196,000), the painting captures Turing's complex legacy.

"Haunting" robot-made painting of Alan Turing expected to fetch at least $120K at auction

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. What just happened? A piece of artwork created by a humanoid robot is set to go under the hammer at the prestigious Sotheby's auction house later this month, and it's expected to fetch at least $120,000. Titled AI God, the 7-foot-tall piece depicts the late computer pioneer Alan Turing, whose groundbreaking work in the 1950s laid the foundation for the field of artificial intelligence. It's a fitting subject for a painting by Ai-Da, hailed as the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist. Turing famously predicted in 1952 that it would take at least 100 years for a machine to pass his Turing test. The robot's name is a nod to Ada Lovelace, the mathematician regarded as the first computer programmer. Ai-Da has been turning heads and making headlines since her debut in 2019. With her realistic yet uncanny human face, art-student chic outfits, bob-style haircut, and bionic hands capable of painting, she feels like something straight out of a Black Mirror episode. However, Ai-Da is very real - the product of a collaboration between British art dealer Aidan Meller, robot makers Engineered Arts, and researchers from Oxford University. She works by "watching" the canvas through cameras in her eyes, which feed data into AI algorithms that guide her robotic hands with precise movements. Her technique is unique as well: rather than using long brushstrokes, she delicately paints tiny lines that gradually form a complete picture. So far, Ai-Da has created several portraits, including those of the late Queen Elizabeth II, music icons like Paul McCartney, and celebrities such as Billie Eilish. She also paints abstract art. However, it's her Turing portrait that has garnered the most attention, having been exhibited at a UN summit earlier this year and described as "haunting." Art isn't her only talent. Ai-Da also has basic language abilities, thanks to an internal AI model. According to Meller, the purpose of Ai-Da is to highlight the "tensions" in our increasingly AI-driven world, questioning the boundaries between digital and physical, human and machine. "In the time of increasing use of AI, online avatars, AI chatbots, Alexa and Siri, Ai-Da as a robotic artist is acutely relevant," he wrote on Ai-Da's website. Of course, Ai-Da lacks self-awareness, so she's unaware of the staggering price her Turing portrait is expected to fetch. Yet her lack of consciousness underscores that Turing's prediction about intelligent machines has, so far, held true.

Portrait by humanoid robot to sell at auction in art world first

LONDON (AFP) - The robot artist Ai-Da, a humanoid powered by artificial intelligence, will be the first of its kind to have a painting sold at a major auction house, organisers said Wednesday. The work, due to go under the hammer at Sotheby's in London next month, is described as a "haunting" portrait of the English mathematician Alan Turing, considered one of the fathers of modern computing. Entitled "AI God", the 2.2 metre (7.5 ft) high portrait is expected to fetch between GBP100,000 and GBP150,000 (USD130,000 and USD196,000). The online sale, featuring a range of digital art forms, would explore the intersection between art and technology, according to Sotheby's. The ultra-realistic robot is designed to resemble a human female with a face, large eyes and a brown wig and is one of the most advanced in the world. It works by using AI algorithms and has cameras in its eyes and bionic hands. Aidan Meller, gallery owner and founder of Ai-Da Robot studio, led the team that created it 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. In 2022, Ai-Da painted portraits of the acts headlining Glastonbury Festival including Billie Eilish, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Paul McCartney. Sotheby's Digital Art Sale runs from October 31 to November 7.

A humanoid robot's painting called 'AI God' may sell for over $120,000

A humanoid robot is slated to become first of its kind to have its artwork sold by a major auction house. On October 16, Sotheby's announced it will soon begin accepting bids starting at $120,000 for "AI God." The abstract portrait of Alan Turing was painted by Ai-Da, an ongoing, experimental AI-powered robotics project that cites a pivotal 1980's transhumanist feminist manifesto as its inspiration. The auction is scheduled to run from October 31st through November 7th. Completed in 2019 by gallerist Aidan Meller in collaboration with Oxford University researchers and the robotics company, Engineered Arts, Ai-Da uses cameras to capture visual inputs that onboard graphics algorithms then use to formulate generative images with some human guidance and adjustments. From there, the digital designs are recreated on paper using paint brushes controlled by its two bionic arms. "[W]hen we talk of Ai-Da as an artist, and Ai-Da's artwork, we do this with full acknowledgement of her composite persona as a unique AI/machine/human fusion and her non-conscious machine status," the robot's creators write on its website. While doing this, however, they intend to develop "her artist persona and oeuvre, as this is an astute mirror of contemporary currents and behavior." Physically, the robot was built to resemble a white woman with brown eyes and a bob haircut, while its name is intended to honor Ada Lovelace. The 19th century English mathematician is considered the first person to identify machine applications beyond simple calculations, and also contributed to Charles Babbage's designs for a mechanical computer, although her groundbreaking work was cut short in 1852 when she died at 36 of uterine cancer. Ai-Da's designers often dress it in a variety of wardrobes including dresses and overalls, and even occasionally go so far as to add jewelry such as necklaces. Since its debut, Ai-Da performed at a TED Talk and in front of the UK's House of Lords through the use of a large language model (LLM) that answered pre-written human questions and inputs. Meanwhile, its artwork has been displayed around the world, including a five-panel polyptych at the United Nations during its AI for Global Good Summit in May 2024. One of those 64-by-90.5-inch portraits, "AI God," will now make history through Sotheby's upcoming auction. The dark hued rendering depicts the disjointed face of Alan Turing, one of the earliest pioneers in computing and artificial intelligence. Speaking with German news outlet Deutsche Welle on Wednesday, Meller argued Ai-Da's painting is "ethereal and haunting," and causes audiences to "continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power." A former World War II codebreaker, Turing eventually became one of the earliest computer researchers to warn of AI's potential capabilities and dangers. "It is customary to offer a grain of comfort, in the form of a statement that some peculiarly human characteristic could never be imitated by a machine," he said during a BBC broadcast in 1951. "I cannot offer any such comfort, for I believe that no such bounds can be set." [Related: Figure says its latest humanoid robot can chat and learn from its mistakes.] Turing ultimately died by suicide in 1954, two years after accepting a chemical castration treatment after a court convicted him for homosexuality -- illegal at the time in the UK. It took nearly 60 years for the British government to issue a formal apology for his "appalling" treatment, while Queen Elizabeth II officially pardoned Turing in 2013. In the decades after his death, however, one of the most famous benchmarks for judging an AI's supposed self-awareness and actual "intelligence" became the late innovator's Turing Test. At its core, a machine passes the test if a human participant cannot distinguish a conversation with an AI program from a discussion with a fellow human. AI began to technically "pass" the classic version of the test years ago, leading to revised analysis, theories, and tests for judging an artificial intelligence's potential consciousness. One of the most recognizable examples are generative AI systems powered by large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT (and Ai-Da), which often convincingly approximates cognisance without any actual self-awareness. "By commemorating Alan Turing in my artwork, which was displayed at the United Nations, I aim to honor his contributions towards the foundation of modern computing and artificial intelligence," Ai-Da reportedly said for its auction announcement through its LLM responses. "... By creating this portrait, I encourage a discussion about creativity. As the human/machine edges blur, I help bring these questions into focus." Ai-Da's generative language statement reiterated its creators' main influence behind the project and art like "AI God" came from "Donna Haraway's cyborg," referencing Haraway's 1985 essay, The Cyborg Manifesto. Written by the prominent scholar of feminist, consciousness, and technology studies, Haraway argues in her manifesto for a rejection of rigidly defined conceptual boundaries between humans, animals, and machines, using the concept of a "cyborg" to represent modern identity's malleability. Through this, humans are encouraged to form bonds through mutual affinity and relationships rather than traditional forms of identity. "Liberation rests on the construction of the consciousness, the imaginative apprehension, of oppression, and so, of possibility. The cyborg... changes what counts as women's experience in the late 20th century," Haraway wrote in The Cyborg Manifesto. "This is a struggle over life and death, but the boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion."

First AI-Created Artwork 'A.I. God' Auction at Sotheby's -- How Much Is Robot Art Worth?

Other similar initiatives have also attracted the attention of major auction houses. An artwork by the robot artist Ai-Da will be auctioned at Sotheby's on Oct. 31, making it the first AI-generated art piece to be auctioned at a prestigious art house. Following the robot's first major gallery exhibition at London's Design Museum in 2021, British media reports suggest the Sotheby's sale is expected to generate £100,000-£150,000 and could help catalyze interest in other similar artists. GANism Meets Robot Art First revealed to the public in 2019, Ai-Da represents the union of two techno-artistic traditions: machines that paint and neural networks that generate images. A dark and distorted portrait of Alan Turing, "A.I. God," was conceived by a generative adversarial network (GAN), a type of machine learning model that has become the tool of choice for artists like Refik Anadol and Mario Klingemann. Unlike other GAN artists, the project's technical innovation lies in Ai-Da's ability to manipulate paint on canvas. In the 1960s, computer art pioneers like Frieder Nake and Vera Molnár experimented with simple algorithms and graphical plotters to create some of the first-ever generative artworks. Later, in 1973, Harold Cohen emerged as a strong contender for the first AI artist, developing AARON. This computer program worked with random variables to make its own decisions on coloring and composition. Similar Artworks Today, Ai-Da is a manifestation of AARON's legacy that demonstrates just how far AI and robotics have come in 50 years. Although it is the most well-known AI art robot, other similar projects have also attracted attention. Sougwen Chung's Doug (Drawing Operations Unit Generation) consists of a robotic arm powered by AI software. It explores the notion of human-machine co-creation, with the artist and her robot working together to create paintings. Meanwhile, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu's "Can't Help Myself" employed an industrial robot and complex visual-recognition system in a unique blend of AI performance and kinetic sculpture. Is AI Art Valuable? With its expected price range, "A.I. God" is on track to become Ai-Da's most valuable artwork. But other AI-generated artworks have fetched even more. In 2018, "Portrait of Edmond Belamy" by French collective Obvious sold at Christie's for $432 500, marking the first time a major auction house listed a piece of GAN art. The sale was controversial because Obvious used an open-source neural network built by another artist without attribution, raising the question of who takes credit for AI art. Probably the most well-known artist in the space is Refik Anadol, who has made over $30 million selling his artworks as NFTs. In 2021, his most valuable piece, "Machine Hallucinations -- Space: Metaverse," raised over $2.3 million at a Sotheby's Hong Kong auction.