Robot portrait sells for over $1 million

(CLO) A portrait of computer scientist Alan Turing drawn by a robot named "Ai-Da" has become the most valuable work of art at over 1.08 million USD (over 27 billion VND).

The Guardian reported that Sotheby's held an auction in New York on November 7, with an estimated value of $120,000-$180,000. The painting went through 27 bids before being sold to an anonymous buyer. The work, titled "AI God: Portrait of Alan Turing", is 2.2 meters tall and was created by Ai-Da - the world's first hyperrealistic robot artist.

"Ai-Da's record marks a new milestone in the history of modern and contemporary art, reflecting the growing intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the global art market," the agency said.

A painting drawn by the robot Ai-da has been sold for the highest price ever. Photo: Sotheby's

According to the Guardian, Ai-Da is currently one of the most advanced robots, created by Aidan Meller - a contemporary art expert. He has his own production team, working with AI experts at Oxford and Birmingham universities. They named Ai-Da after Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) - the world's first programmer. Ai-Da was launched in 2019 after Meller collaborated with a robot manufacturing company based in Cornwall, England.

On CNN on November 8, Mr. Meller said about the process of Ai-Da creating the portrait: "We had a discussion with her about the topic of 'Artificial Intelligence for Good' and Ai-Da said she wanted Alan Turing to be the main character of the topic." After choosing the style, setting, color tone and materials, Ai-Da used the camera in her eye to find images of Turing and created many sketches. She drew 15 separate pictures of parts of his face. All were different depending on how the algorithm interpreted them.

Because Ai-Da's robotic arm can only draw on a small surface measuring 29.7 x 41.9 cm, the final drawing was printed on canvas paper using a 3D printer. Sotheby's notes that "the image is not altered during this process."

Ai-Da was created by Aidan Meller. Photo: Sotheby's

Ai-Da's "father" describes the muted tones and broken facial features in the paintings as reminiscent of "the challenges Turing warns humans may face in managing AI." He commented that Ai-Da's paintings have a "fantastical and haunting" look, making viewers wonder how far AI can take humanity or about the race to wield this power on a global scale.

“The core value of the work is its ability to provoke discussions about new technologies,” Ai-Da told the Guardian. She said the portrait of Alan Turing encourages viewers to reflect on the “divine” nature of AI and programming, and to consider the ethical and social implications of such advances. However, The Telegraph’s art critic Alastair Sooke was less enthusiastic about the record, describing it as “a subtle, embellished version of an animal painting like Pablo Picasso.”

On the AI For Good website, the creators introduce Ai-Da as the first hyper-realistic artist robot that can draw, paint, write poetry and sculpt. As an artificially intelligent machine, Ai-Da is also considered a work of art.

Alan Turing (1912-1954) was a British mathematician, logician, and cryptographer. He played a major role in the fight against Nazi Germany by inventing many code-breaking techniques that contributed to the Allied victory in World War II. In the 1950s, he expressed concerns about the use of artificial intelligence. In 1952, Turing was chemically castrated to avoid imprisonment for homosexuality. He committed suicide two years later, at the age of 42.

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Source: https://www.congluan.vn/buc-tranh-chan-dung-robot-ve-co-gia-hon-1-trieu-usd-post320689.html