The “ world ’s first ultra - naturalistic golem creative person ” has sell a portrait of Alan Turing – the codebreaking trailblazer of modern calculator science – for over $ 1 million . The sales agreement strike out the first work of graphics by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction ( although , technically , the money will go into the pockets of the robot ’s human creator ) .
The picture , titled " A.I. God " , went under the pound on Thursday as part of Sotheby ’s Digital Art Sale in New York . Predicted to only sell for $ 120,000 to $ 180,000 , the artwork went to an anonymous vendee for a colossal $ 1.3 million .
The artist behind the work is Ai - Da , a humanoid automaton appoint afterAda Lovelace , often shout the “ populace ’s first calculator software engineer . ” The nineteenth - one C mathematician was one of the first the great unwashed to spot the potential of computers to go beyond mere calculation , foresee their program in euphony , graphics , and more .
Someone’s a fan of Francis Bacon: the final “A.I. God” polyptych created by Ai-Da.Image courtesy of Sotheby’s
With the aid of artificial intelligence information ( AI ) , Ai - Da analyzes photographs ofAlan Turingand processes how it wishes to approach its own art .
“ We converse with Ai - Da , using her A.I. language model , about what she would care to paint . In this instance , we had a discussion with her about ‘ A.I. for good ’ which led to Ai - Da ’ bringing up Alan Turing as a key person in the history of A.I. that she require to paint , ” Aidan Meller , Director of the Ai - Da Robot Project , said in a statement consider by IFLScience .
“ We then talk about with Ai - Da how she would care to paint Alan Turing . We ask Ai - Da questions around vogue , coloring material , content , tone , texture and so on . Ai - Da then uses the cameras in her eyes to seem at a picture of Alan Turing alongside her A.I. withdraw and painting algorithmic rule and her robotic arm to make preliminary sketches followed by several paintings of Alan Turing , ” explained Meller .
It then physically applies acrylic and oil paint onto a canvas , with each picture take up about six to eight hours to make out . For this project , Ai - Da painted 15 individual portrayal of Turing ’s face . Three of these 15 images were then pick by Ai - district attorney before being scan and upload onto a information processing system where the last persona was assembled . The closing product was then apply to a declamatory canvass using a three-D textured printer .
While much of the mental process is controlled by Ai - Da , the robot does receive a facilitate hand from man .
" Studio supporter then add texture onto the 3D printed canvass of the nontextual matter – this is because Ai - Da ’s automatic painting branch is ineffectual to elongate to a large scale canvas tent and is limit to A3 size of it canvas tent . There is no modification to the underlying image in this unconscious process . Ai - Da then adds marks and grain onto the last canvass so as to finish the artwork . The emplacement and semblance of these marks are decided by Ai - Da based on having a conversation about what she wants to do , ” notes Meller .
Ai - Da is the inspiration of Meller , an artistic creation principal and drift music director by trade , although it was build by Engineered Arts , the UK - based robotics group behindAmeca , one of the " world ’s most innovative human - shaped golem . ” It was programmed internationally , with her AI capabilities being developed by PhD students and professors at the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham .
On top of being a Jehovah , Ai - Da is consider a body of work of conceptual graphics in itself , designed to raise question aboutAI , agency , and thenature of creative thinking .
“ This auction is an important present moment for the visual arts , where Ai - Da ’s artwork brings focus on artworld and societal change , as we grapple with the uprise long time of AI . The artwork ' AI God ' raises questions about agency , as AI gains more superpower , ” added Meller .
