10/28/2024

AI robot painting making history with Sotheby's auction

A Sotheby’s auction this week was expected to get between $120,000 and $180,000 for “A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing,” a painting by a humanoid robot that uses artificial intelligence (AI). It is he first time a major auction house has offered a robot's artwork. The Ai-Da robot is the brainchild of British gallerist Aidan Melle, who said the art highlights society’s relationship to technology and underscores a long tradition of art mirroring societal change.

■Class discussion: Can you imagine paying more than $100,000 for painting produced by a computer program? AI programs are very advanced, but they still follow instructions from human beings. Is the painting of computer pioneer Alan Turing really a creation of AI or a creation of the people who wrote the program, built the robot and told the program to produce a picture of Turing? Artists have adopted many technologies to produce their works. Is AI just another tool to make art?