The piece ‘draws heavily’ from Pablo Picasso, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley, the art broker said. Luxury broker Sotheby’s sold artwork made by the world’s first “ultra-realistic” humanoid robot Ai-Da using artificial intelligence (AI) for more than $1m – significantly higher than the estimations, ranging between $120,000 to $180,000. The piece, titled ‘AI God: Portrait of Alan Turing,’ was created by Ai-Da this year and serves as a tribute to Alan Turing, the pioneering mathematician, whose work formed the basis for modern computing and AI.
Purchased by an undisclosed buyer for $1,084,000 during the auction house’s Digital Art day sale on 7 November, the large mixed media artwork on canvas draws inspiration from the works of 20th Century artists like Pablo Picasso and Doris Salcedo that “portray human suffering through splintered, distorted aesthetics,” Sotheby noted, as well as the cautionary tales of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. The artwork, is a part of a series of five portraits exploring the legacy of AI and includes Ai-Da’s portrait of computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, Turing and herself created using a variety of AI algorithms robotic processes and traditional artistic methods. Calling the auction an “important moment for visual arts,” Aidan Meller, a UK-based art dealer and the creator of Ai-Da said in a statement to the press that “The artwork “AI God” raises questions about agency, as AI gains more power,” bringing focus on .
