For the first time in history, Sotheby’s hosted a special “art and technology” online auction from October 31 to November 7, 2024, featuring a painting created by a humanoid artist robot equipped with artificial intelligence – a piece signed by the robot named Ai-Da.
Introducing Ai-Da
Ai-Da is not your typical robot. Far from resembling a character like Optimus, Ai-Da has an ultra-realistic feminine appearance and can move and speak autonomously. This technological marvel is equipped with mechanical arms, a high-definition scanner, and software, as well as cameras in place of eyes. Her name, Ai-Da, pays tribute to the pioneering coder Ada Lovelace.
The artwork auctioned is titled AI God
(The God of AI
), as it presents a portrait of Alan Turing, the mathematician and AI pioneer who invented a love letter machine in the 1940s. The painting—striking and enigmatic—depicts the scientist’s face split in two and made up of dark, blotchy patches, reminiscent of a Rorschach test.
According to Ai-Da’s creator, gallery owner Aidan Meller, who developed the robot in 2019 in England with AI specialists from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham, the piece reflects the duality of AI, raising the critical question of how far its power will take us
. He added that the dark tones and shattered facets of the face
represent the challenges Alan Turing warned us about when it comes to managing AI
.
An Incredible Price!
Like any prominent artist, Ai-Da has been showcased in several venues around the world, including the Design Museum in London, the Pyramids of Giza, and the United Nations. She even delivered a speech to the House of Lords in 2022 and has participated in interviews. Through my portraits of Alan Turing, I commemorate his achievements and contributions to the development of computing and AI
.
With the auction having concluded yesterday, the final sale price is now public. Estimated between 120,000 and 180,000 euros, the work ultimately sold for a staggering 1.2 million euros!