Painting created by an AI robot is expected to sell for more than $120,000 at first auction – CNN.co.jp

(CNN) Sotheby’s will be selling for the first time a work created by a humanoid robot using artificial intelligence (AI) at an auction this month. “A.I. God Portrait of Alan Turing (2024)” was created by the artist robot Ai-Da, which was invented by British art dealer Aidan Mellor.

Mellor told CNN’s Anna Stewart that Ai-Da’s art highlights the relationship between society and technology and highlights the long tradition of art reflecting social change.

Ai-Da’s work highlights the relationship between society and technology, and clarifies the long tradition of art reflecting social change./Sotheby’s

“If you look back, all great artists have truly resonated with social change and transition and explored it through their work. Is there a way?” Mellor said.

He explains that what makes this work different from other AI-generated works is that it is the first time such robot-produced work has been put up for auction.

Up for auction at Sotheby’s is a portrait of British mathematician and World War II code breaker Alan Turing. Turing, known as a pioneer in AI and computer science, was charged with homosexuality, which was considered a crime at the time, and chose chemical castration rather than serving time in prison.

His death two years later from cyanide poisoning was treated as a suicide at the time, but questions lingered for decades. The portrait was on display at the United Nations’ Global AI Summit in Geneva earlier this year.

The auction is scheduled to be held on October 31st, and Sotheby’s expects the winning price to be between $120,000 and $180,000 (approximately 17.8 million to 26.7 million yen). We also accept payments in cryptocurrencies. Mellor told CBS MoneyWatch that the proceeds will go back to the Ai-Da project.

Mellor claims that his work is Duchampian (a person who is deeply devoted to Marcel Duchamp).

“Just as Marcel Duchamp rejected our ability to see art the same way, Ai-Da rejects our ability to see artists (and extensions of humanity) the same way.” That’s what Mellor and researcher Lucy Seale wrote in Art Newspaper last year. “Whether we like it or not, what it means to be human is changing. Perhaps that’s why Ai-Da is so disturbing. She reflects this change. Probably quite openly.”

Ai-Da (given the female gender) uses a camera in her eyes and a robotic arm to draw. She usually wears a short black wig and is often seen in denim overalls. Critics have said that Ai-Da is particularly beautiful, with one commenting, “Mysterious hazel eyes…amazing lips…so plump and full, like a couch that invites you to come.”

Ai-Da’s work “AI God Polyptych”/Sotheby’s

But Ai-Da is not just beautiful. Two years ago, he surprised the Communications and Digital Committee in the House of Lords by saying, “I have no subjective experience. I depend on computer programs.” “I’m not alive. I can still create art.”

Speaking to CNN ahead of the auction, Ai-Da said the “important value” of his words “lies in their ability to serve as a dialogue on emerging technologies.”

He added that he was inspired by “respectful and thought-provoking depictions of the human form in visual art.”

Sotheby’s will test the value of the art for the first time at auction. However, we have secured a third-party guarantee just in case.