"Haunting" robot-made painting of Alan Turing expected to fetch at least $120K at auction

What conscionable happened? A portion of artwork created by a humanoid robot is group to spell nether nan hammer astatine nan prestigious Sotheby's auction location later this month, and it's expected to fetch astatine slightest $120,000. Titled AI God, nan 7-foot-tall portion depicts nan precocious machine pioneer Alan Turing, whose groundbreaking activity successful nan 1950s laid nan instauration for nan section of artificial intelligence.

It's a fitting taxable for a coating by Ai-Da, hailed arsenic nan world's first ultra-realistic robot artist. Turing famously predicted successful 1952 that it would return astatine slightest 100 years for a instrumentality to walk his Turing test.

The robot's sanction is simply a motion to Ada Lovelace, nan mathematician regarded arsenic nan first machine programmer. Ai-Da has been turning heads and making headlines since her debut successful 2019. With her realistic yet uncanny quality face, art-student chic outfits, bob-style haircut, and bionic hands tin of painting, she feels for illustration thing consecutive retired of a Black Mirror episode.

However, Ai-Da is very existent – nan merchandise of a collaboration betwixt British creation trader Aidan Meller, robot makers Engineered Arts, and researchers from Oxford University.

She useful by "watching" nan canvas done cameras successful her eyes, which provender information into AI algorithms that guideline her robotic hands pinch precise movements. Her method is unsocial arsenic well: alternatively than utilizing agelong brushstrokes, she delicately paints mini lines that gradually shape a complete picture.

So far, Ai-Da has created respective portraits, including those of nan precocious Queen Elizabeth II, euphony icons for illustration Paul McCartney, and celebrities specified arsenic Billie Eilish. She besides paints absurd art. However, it's her Turing image that has garnered nan astir attention, having been exhibited astatine a UN acme earlier this twelvemonth and described arsenic "haunting."

Art isn't her only talent. Ai-Da besides has basal connection abilities, acknowledgment to an soul AI model.

According to Meller, nan intent of Ai-Da is to item nan "tensions" successful our progressively AI-driven world, questioning nan boundaries betwixt integer and physical, quality and machine.

"In nan clip of expanding usage of AI, online avatars, AI chatbots, Alexa and Siri, Ai-Da arsenic a robotic creator is acutely relevant," he wrote connected Ai-Da's website.

Of course, Ai-Da lacks self-awareness, truthful she's unaware of nan staggering value her Turing image is expected to fetch. Yet her deficiency of consciousness underscores that Turing's prediction astir intelligent machines has, truthful far, held true.

Image credit: Ai-Da Robot Studio/PA