Sotheby’s Frist AI Robot Artist
Humanoid robot Ai-Da Source: Sotheby's
Greetings Warriors
Big news coming today at Sotheby’s! They’re about to auction off their first-ever artwork created by a humanoid robot. That’s right—Ai-Da, a robot artist, is putting her piece AI God, a portrait of the legendary Alan Turing, up for sale. Turing, in case you didn’t know, basically laid down the groundwork for modern computing and even foreshadowed the idea of AI long before it was a reality.
Sotheby's estimates that the painting, "A.I. God, Portrait of Alan Turing," by a humanoid robot dubbed Ai-Da, could attract bids of up to $180,000 when it goes up for auction on Oct. 31, 2024.Sotheby's
So, here’s the scoop: AI God is a massive 64 x 90.5-inch mixed-media painting, signed with just the letter “A” by Ai-Da herself, and it’s expected to sell somewhere between $120K and $180K. The auction’s going live on October 31 as part of their “digital art day” event.
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What’s fascinating about Ai-Da is that she doesn’t just generate images on a computer. Created by UK art dealer Aidan Meller, she “sees” using cameras in her eyes, and her robotic arm—powered by AI—actually draws and paints. Meller mentions how Ai-Da’s physical presence adds a whole new dimension to AI-generated art, making this auction a first-of-its-kind event.
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Ai-Da, the world's first robot artist, paints portraits of the headline music acts in an exhibition during the Glastonbury Festival on June 23, 2022, in Glastonbury, England.Leon Neal/Getty Images
With the rise of AI in society, Meller says this sale brings up big questions about the future of creativity and how technology is shaping it. According to Sotheby’s digital art head, Michael Bouhanna, AI God and other works in the auction are pushing the boundaries of art in the 21st century, challenging us to rethink what art means in a tech-driven world.
Even so, putting a price tag on AI art isn’t exactly straightforward—there’s a lot of gray area when it comes to valuing works by a robot versus human-made pieces. But one thing’s for sure: this is definitely a milestone moment in the art world!
