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An AI robot's portrait of Alan Turing made history after being auctioned for $1M

A portrait of Alan Turing created by Ai-Da, the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist, has made history by selling for $1.08 million at Sotheby's— becoming the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction.

Ellie Ramirez-Camara profile image
by Ellie Ramirez-Camara
An AI robot's portrait of Alan Turing made history after being auctioned for $1M
Credit: Sotheby’s/EPA

The world's first auctioned painting by a robot is a 2.2 meter (7.5 feet) portrait of Alan Turing, titled A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing, and created by Ai-Da, the world's first ultra-realistic robot artist. It sold for $1.08 million at Sotheby's, far exceeding its pre-sale estimate of $120,000-$180,000. Sotheby's has since confirmed that the painting attracted 27 bids before being sold to an undisclosed buyer. —

Ai-Da, the humanoid robot powered by AI and named after Ada Lovelace, who is considered the world’s first computer programmer, was developed by a team led by modern and contemporary art specialist Aidan Meller and comprised of artificial intelligence specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham. Ai-Da can have voice conversations with people, and cameras in its 'eyes' enable it to 'see' the world.

Ai-Da generates ideas for its artworks by having conversations with its creators. Reportedly, the idea to create a portrait of Alan Turing emerged during a discussion about "AI for good". After being asked about details such as the style, color, content, tone, and texture it would use for its painting, Ai-Da looked at a picture of Turing using the cameras in its eyes before starting the painting. The artwork's muted tones and fragmented facial composition reportedly reflect Turing's own warnings about AI's future challenges.

Ellie Ramirez-Camara profile image
by Ellie Ramirez-Camara
Updated

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