AI robot Aida’s work ‘Artificial Intelligence God’
Sold at Sotheby’s for $1.32 million
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A portrait drawn by an artificial intelligence (AI) humanoid robot has become a hot topic after being sold at an auction for over 1.8 billion won.
According to foreign media such as AFP on the 8th (local time), a painting drawn by ‘Ai-DA‘, the world’s first surrealist robot artist, was sold for $1.32 million (approximately 1.847 billion won) at Sotheby’s digital art sale auction in London, England. sold to The original expected winning price was $80,000 (about 250 million won).
This painting, titled ‘AI GOD’, is a 2.2m portrait depicting the face of mathematician Alan Turing.
Alan Turing was a British codebreaker, mathematician, and early computer scientist who was active during World War II. He is credited with laying the theoretical foundation for computer engineering and information engineering. In particular, the ‘Turing Test’, a conversation experiment between AI and humans based on his thesis, is still used as a measure to measure the completeness of AI.
Sotheby’s evaluated that the record-breaking selling price of the first work submitted for auction by a humanoid robot artist marks a milestone in the history of modern and contemporary art. He added that it also showed that the intersection between AI technology and the international art market is growing.
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Aida, which drew the picture, was created by Aidan Mellor, an expert in modern and contemporary art, in collaboration with AI experts from the University of Oxford and the University of Birmingham in 2019. The name comes from the world’s first computer programmer, Ada Lovelace. It has the appearance of a young woman with short hair and draws pictures using cameras mounted on its eyes and a robotic arm.
“The core value of my work is the ability to act as a catalyst for conversations about new technologies,” explains Aida, who uses AI to speak. “Alan Turing’s portrait invites viewers to reflect on the ‘god-like nature’ of AI and computing while considering the ethical and social implications of these developments,” he added.
Aida has painted portraits of people who led the Glastonbury Festival in 2022, including Billie Eilish, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar, and Paul McCartney.
Mellor explained that the “silent tones and broken facial planes” of the work in this auction seem to hint at the difficulties we will face in managing AI, as Turing warned. “Aida’s work is fantastic and haunting, and continues to raise questions about where the power of AI will take us and the global race to harness that power.”
