AI humanoid robot artist’s Alan Turing painting sells for over $1M

Friday

Jack Aylmer Reporter

By Jack Aylmer (Reporter), Alex Delia (Producer), Jack Henry (Video Editor)

A portrait of WWII codebreaker Alan Turing, painted by a humanoid robot named Ai-Da, has sold for a record-breaking $1,084,800 at auction. The sale, handled by Sotheby’s, marks the highest auction price for any artwork created by an AI-driven humanoid.

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Ai-Da, a robot developed by British gallerist Aidan Meller, created the painting titled “AI God: Portrait of Alan Turing,” which surpassed its estimated price of $120,000 to $180,000 after drawing 27 bids.

The artwork, a fragmented portrait of Turing using dark colors and abstract details, reflects Turing’s pioneering role in computer science and his legacy in artificial intelligence.

An undisclosed buyer placed the winning bid for this painting, which included elements of Turing’s WWII codebreaking Bombe Machine in the background.

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Sotheby’s auction house described the sale as “a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art” and pointed to the growing intersection of AI and the global art market.

Ai-Da, launched in 2019, has been designed to mimic human-like artistry with a black bob haircut, robotic arms, and advanced cameras that allow it to scan images, create sketches, and paint sections of its subjects.

Each part of Turing’s face took Ai-Da six to eight hours to complete, and the final portrait was assembled with intricate attention to detail and printed on a larger canvas using 3D technology.

Meller sees Ai-Da’s work as a lens into a “post-human” future where decisions and creative expression may be increasingly driven by AI. “This is more than just an artwork,” Meller said, emphasizing the societal questions posed by the painting. “Ai-Da’s creation is a mirror to where we’re going.”

The painting has stirred debate on AI’s role in art, with Meller comparing its impact to that of photography’s invention, while critics like The Telegraph’s Alastair Sooke, liken it to “a sophisticated novelty.”

Ai-Da defended its artistic value in a statement, emphasizing the artwork’s purpose as a catalyst for ethical and societal dialogue.

“Alan Turing recognized this potential, and stares at us, as we race toward a future shaped by AI,” Ai-Da stated.

In recent years, Ai-Da has gained global recognition, including participating in the United Nations Global Summit on AI for Good, highlighting the robot’s role in international discussions on AI and society.

Tags: AI, Art, Artificial Intelligence, Auction, Generative AI, OpenAI, Robots

“I am Ai-Da… the world’s first ultra-realistic AI robot artist”

A HUMANOID ROBOT NAMED AIDA CREATED A PAINTING OF WORLD WAR 2 CODEBREAKER AND COMPUTER SCIENCE PIONEER ALAN TURING….AND THIS HIGH-TECH ARTWORK JUST SOLD FOR A STAGGERING SUM AT AUCTION… LEAVING MANY TO WONDER IF THE FUTURE OF VISUAL ART COULD BE HANDLED ENTIRELY BY MACHINES.

THE “ARTIST” WAS ASKED ABOUT ITS WORK:

AI-DA, ARTIST ROBOT:

“My artwork is a portrait of Alan Turing, the brilliant British mathematician who laid the foundation for modern computing and artificial intelligence. The portrait has a fractured and layered quality, reflecting our current, fragmented and multifaceted worlds.”

THE PAINTING TITLTED “A-I GOD: PORTRAIT OF ALAN TURING,” SOLD FOR MORE THAN 1 MILLION DOLLARS AT SOTHEBY’S AUCTION HOUSE. WITH 27 BIDS, THE FINAL SALE PRICE FAR EXCEEDED ITS INITIAL ESTIMATE OF AROUND 120-THOUSAND… MAKING IT THE MOST VALUABLE ARTWORK EVER SOLD BY A HUMANOID ROBOT.

THE PAINTING PROCESS INVOLVED AI-DA’S ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. THE ROBOT USED ITS CAMERAS TO SCAN A PHOTO OF TURING, THEN CREATED SKETCHES AND PAINTED 15 INDIVIDUAL PARTS OF HIS FACE, EACH UNIQUE. AIDA EVEN INCLUDED AN IMAGE OF TURING’S CODEBREAKING DEVICE, THE BOMBE MACHINE, IN THE BACKGROUND. EACH PIECE TOOK SIX TO EIGHT HOURS TO COMPLETE.

AIDA WAS CREATED BY A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY IN 2019.THE ROBOT USES A COMBINATION OF AI ALGORITHMS, CAMERAS AND METAL ARMS TO PAINT.

AIDAN MELLER, DIRECTOR OF AI-DA ROBOT STUDIO

“We are absolutely in that transitional point of going from a human world where humans make all the decisions to a post-human world, where the algorithms are starting to make all the decisions and we are in that tipping point”

THE SALE MARKS A HISTORIC MOMENT IN THE ART WORLD, BUT IT RAISES A BIGGER QUESTION: HOW WILL A-I CONTINUE TO IMPACT CREATIVE SPACES? AND ARE WE MOVING TOWARD A FUTURE WHERE ALL MEDIA IS CREATED BY ROBOTS?

AIDA’S TEAM SAYS THE PROCEEDS WILL GO TOWARD HER CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT.

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FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS… I’M JACK AYLMER.