First Portray Created by Humanoid Robotic and Offered for Public sale Clears Over $1 Million

Who would desire a portray made by a robotic? I’m undecided, however whoever they’re, they simply spent an insane sum of money to purchase it.

“AI God,” is a portray that depicts famed cryptanalyst Alan Turing, and it was created by Ai-Da, who’s described on her website as being an “ultra-realistic robotic artist.” The work, which was offered at Sotheby’s public sale home in New York for over one million {dollars} this week, seems to be like this:

Ai-Da’s alan turing portray makes historical past as first work offered by humanoid robotic at @Sothebys https://t.co/GpVYt5tiBg pic.twitter.com/3KyqTXIVqJ

— designboom (@designboom) November 8, 2024

The Artwork Newspaper writes that after 27 bids, the fortunate winner walked away with the portray, having forked over greater than one million {dollars}.

You would possibly end up questioning the way it’s even potential {that a} robotic could make a portray. Ai-Da’s web site states that she is “able to [both] drawing and portray utilizing 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 fashionable and up to date artwork.” Meller has stated that he created Ai-Da in an effort to encourage a dialogue about “the present obsession with expertise and its unfolding legacy.” It’s unclear who’s going to maintain the earnings from the “AI God” sale, Ai-Da or Meller.

Sotheby’s public sale home launched a press release, right here quoted by Barron’s, that acknowledged the sale: “Right now’s record-breaking sale value for the primary paintings by a humanoid robotic artist to go up for public sale marks a second within the historical past of recent and up to date artwork and displays the rising intersection between A.I. expertise and the worldwide artwork market.”

“Ai-Da’s portrayal of Turing not solely honors his legacy but in addition explores the broader, transformative affect of expertise on human identification, creativity, and company, making her work a big milestone in each artwork and AI,” Sotheby’s web site states. Earlier this 12 months, Ai-Da exhibited AI God as “a part of a five-paneled polyptych on the United Nations” throughout a Geneva summit dubbed “AI for Good.”

After the sale of the piece, Ai-Da was quoted by Barron’s as saying: “The important thing worth of my work is its capability to function a catalyst for dialogue about rising applied sciences.”

All of this form of begs the query: What is that this for? Are individuals really thinking about shopping for work “made” by robots? If that’s the case, why? Personally, I’ve struggled to know the enchantment of “artwork” generated through software program and {hardware}. Whereas the complete factor can’t assist however really feel like a bizarre grift or opaque PR for the broader AI trade.