An AI robot’s painting of renowned World War II codebreaker Alan Turing has fetched a record $1.3 million (£1 million) at auction.
Sotheby’s reported that 27 bids were made for the digital artwork titled “A.I. God,” which was initially valued between $120,000 (£9,252) and $180,000 (£139,000).
Turing, a mathematician widely regarded as the father of computer science and artificial intelligence (AI), was instrumental in the Allies’ success during World War II by decoding the Enigma machine at Bletchley Park.
The auction house described this sale as marking “a new frontier in the global art market,” setting a benchmark for artwork created by a humanoid robot.
Ai-Da Robot, the creator, is noted as “the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork sold at auction.”
The portrait, a large-scale depiction of Turing, honors his legacy. After the war, Turing designed one of the earliest concepts of a digital computer.
The artwork was sold in an online auction that concluded at 19:00 GMT on Thursday, with the final price “significantly surpassing its estimated value,” purchased by an undisclosed buyer.
The auction house said the sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist “marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between A.I. technology and the global art market”.
Ai-Da Robot, which uses an advanced AI language model to speak, said: “The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies.”
The work “invites viewers to reflect on the god-like nature of AI and computing while considering the ethical and societal implications of these advancements”, the robot said.
“Alan Turing recognised this potential, and stares at us, as we race towards this future.”
Aidan Meller, director of the Ai-Da Robot Studios, said: “This auction is an important moment for the visual arts, where Ai-Da’s artwork brings focus on artworld and societal changes, as we grapple with the rising age of AI.
“The artwork ‘AI God’ raises questions about agency, as AI gains more power.”