Painting by Robot sells for $1 Million

In an unusual auction, a painting created by a robot named Ai-Da sold for over $1 million, marking a record for AI-created artwork.

The piece, a portrait of famed mathematician and WWII code-breaker Alan Turing, was auctioned for $1,084,800, far exceeding its estimated price of $100,000 to $150,000. Ai-Da is a humanoid robot that looks like a woman and uses advanced technology, including cameras and artificial intelligence, to create paintings, drawings, and sculptures.

To create this artwork, Ai-Da used programming with complex algorithms to produce fifteen portraits of Turing. From these, it selected three to combine, adding an image of Turing’s “bombe machine” — a device he helped invent to decode enemy messages in WWII. The chosen images were uploaded to a computer and printed onto a large 2.28-meter-high canvas, which Ai-Da then textured with her robotic arms. Studio assistants helped add finishing touches since Ai-Da couldn’t reach the edges of the canvas.

This artwork by Ai-Da, the first robot to have its work sold at a major auction house, is sparking conversation about the role of technology in art. Ai-Da explained that her goal is to encourage discussions about how technology is changing creative fields and our world.