Humanoid robot artist makes history with €1 million auction sale of Alan Turing portrait

An AI robot’s painting of Alan Turing, the father of modern computer science, has made history, selling for a staggering $1,084,800 (€1 million) at auction.

Sotheby’s reported that the digital artwork, titled A.I. God, received 27 bids and its sale well-exceeded expectations. Initially, it was expected to fetch between $120,000 (€113,000) and $180,000 (€169,000).

The piece, created by Ai-Da - the world’s first lifelike humanoid robot artist - marks a historic milestone as the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction.

The auction house says that the sale "launches a new frontier in the global art market, establishing the auction benchmark for an artwork by a humanoid robot".

Before the auction took place, Euronews Culture spoke with Ai-Da and her creator Aidan Meller over an online video call: "Alan Turing was a highly gifted mathematician and original thinker. And I’m glad this artwork, which was displayed at the United Nations in Geneva, brings focus to his contributions" said the humanoid robot.

Ai-Da who was created in 2019 and is able to draw and paint thanks to high-tech cameras in her eyes, complex AI algorithms and a specially-designed robotic arm. Her work has gained global attention, being exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Venice Biennale, Oxford's Ashmolean Museum, and even headlining a solo show at London's Design Museum in 2021.

Ai-Da is unable to create art without human involvement. Each of her artworks starts with an initial conversation using her AI language model; for example, she suggested Alan Turing for a portrait. After being shown a photo of Turing, she produced a series of preliminary sketches and paintings on A3 canvases. These sketches were then combined to create a final artwork.

Aidan Meller, Ai-Da's creator explained the meaning behind the portrait's name: "This portrait is provocatively titled 'AI God'. The name reflects a major shift happening now: decisions are moving from human control, where people have full agency, to algorithms increasingly making choices for us. There is a transfer of decision-making power, and with AI’s enormous potential, we might be approaching godlike capabilities that could impact massive populations."

He added: "The hope is that this painting will prompt deep ethical questions as we continue to harness AI in new ways. How do we use this technology ethically and responsibly? And how can we ensure it benefits the planet and humanity, given its power?"