At just 5 years old, she’s already given a Ted Talk, served as an artist in residence at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, and seen her artwork displayed at the United Nations. Now, the artist known as Ai-Da will make history at Sotheby’s with the auction house’s first sale of an artwork made by a robot. Ai-Da—a humanoid robot depicted as female, with large eyes and a brown wig—created the large mixed-media portrait of Alan Turing, the mathematician and computer scientist whose work is considered to have formed the basis for artificial intelligence. The painting is expected to fetch up $180,000 when it hits the auction block in London next month. The robot draws and paints using AI algorithms, a bionic arm, and cameras in her eyes, reports CBS News, noting this painting is signed with an “A.”
Dubbed “AI God,” the muted portrait shows a portion of Turing’s face, apparently formed from blurred brushstrokes. It’s been called “haunting,” per Deutsche Welle. “What makes this work of art different from other AI-generated works is that with Ai-Da there is a physical manifestation, and this is the first time a work from a robot of this type has ever come to auction,” Aidan Meller, the art dealer who founded the Ai-Da Robot studio, tells CBS. He notes proceeds from the sale will be reinvested in the robot project, which was formed in 2019 with AI specialists at Oxford University and Birmingham University in the UK.
Michael Bouhanna, head of NFT and digital art at Sotheby’s, says Ai-Da’s portrait is part of a collection of “cutting-edge works” that “push the boundaries of artistic creation today” and “prompt a discussion of how we can appreciate and experience the ever-evolving possibilities around art-making in the 21st century,” per CBS. As Ai-Da tells the BBC, “My artwork encourages reflection on the relationship between humans, machines, and creativity, offering a new lens through which to think about art.” She’s also created portraits of celebrities including Billie Eilish and Sir Paul McCartney, in addition to numerous self-portraits. “AI God” will be auctioned as part of Sotheby’s Digital Art Sale, running from Oct. 31 to Nov. 7. It’s expected to fetch between $120,000 and $180,000. (More artificial intelligence stories.)
