Almost 75 years ago, Alan Turing pre-empted today’s debate about artificial intelligence (AI) by trying to answer the question: can machines think?
Now a $US1.08 million ($1.64 million) portrait of the deceased British computer science pioneer is prompting yet another curler.
Can robots also make art?
Titled A.I. God, the 2.3-metre brown-hued portrait of Turing hails from the mechanised hands of an anthropomorphised robot called Ai-Da.
It made headlines when the global auction house Sotheby’s listed it for auction this month, dubbing it a history-making painting by a “humanoid robot artist”.
Ai-Da, who is named after the 19th century English mathematician Ada Lovelace, was programmed with AI technology by a cohort of academics led by Aidan Meller as part of the Ai-Da Robot Project in the UK.
As well as programming Ai-Da to speak, they’ve also fashioned it as young woman in overalls with a slick brown bob.
“We converse with Ai-Da using her AI language model about what she would like to paint,” Mr Meller, the project’s director, explained in a recent statement.
“We ask Ai-Da questions around style, colour, content, tone, texture and so on.”
A series of portraits by the robot Ai-Da has sold at an auction run by Sotheby’s in New York. (Supplied: Sotheby’s/EPA)
How did Ai-Da paint Alan Turing?
Mr Meller said the team had discussions with Ai-Da about painting Alan Turing, which led to preliminary sketches, and then acrylic and oil paintings of the scientist’s face.
“Each of these 15 paintings takes Ai-Da six to eight hours,” Mr Meller said.
Ai-Da was then prompted to assemble these paintings, with three of the 15 portraits ultimately picked to sit alongside another Ai-Da painting of Turing’s famed decryption device, the Bombe machine.
This final compilation was put onto a 2.3m tall canvas using a 3D textured printer, and texture was added to the brown-toned piece by studio assistants.
“There is no change to the underlying image in this process,” Mr Meller said.
“Ai-Da then adds marks and texture onto the final canvas in order to complete the artwork.”
Earlier this month, A.I. God wound up fronting a campaign for a digital art sale held in New York by one of the world’s biggest auction houses.
Sotheby’s claimed it as a history-making event, dubbing Ai-Da as “the first humanoid robot artist to have an artwork sold at auction”, although that claim that has since been challenged.
A.I. God sold to a private bidder at eight times its initial sale price, fetching $US1.08m.
The cash goes to the Ai-Da Robot Project, with Sotheby’s also getting a hefty commission.
“This auction seems an important moment for the visual arts, where Ai-Da’s artwork brings focus on the art world and societal changes, as we grapple with the rising age of AI,” Mr Meller said.
“The artwork ‘A.I. God’ raises questions about agency, as AI gains more power.”
Loading YouTube content
Mixed reviews to artwork sale
Reviews since the artwork’s sale have been mixed, with comments on a recent Al Jazeera social media post ranging from questioning the ethics of the painting through to calling it a “f***ing useless” waste of money.
“People are always fascinated at first when we build machines that imitate or mimic what humans can do,” artist and Monash University AI researcher Jon McCormack told ABC News.
“I think because it asks us to re-consider what it means to be human.”
“In this case I think it is quite problematic because it plays into gender stereotypes and anthropomorphic biases.
“The fact that the robot has a humanoid-like body, stereotypical female face and hair is nothing to do with the machines ability to paint or make art.”
This robot, Ai-Da, and its portrait of mathematician Alan Turing. (Supplied: Sotheby’s/EPA)
Professor McCormack also doesn’t believe this is anywhere close to the first time artwork by a form of AI has been sold off, citing the sale of a piece by Christie’s back in 2018.
Yet the academic and artist does believe A.I. God should be classified as art form.
“Yes, bad art, but art,” he said.
“I doubt it will maintain any value in the years ahead.
“I think it says more about human vanity or conspicuous consumption — wanting to own the ‘first’ work — than trends.”
“I’m sure there are a lot of emerging artists who would love to get more funding for their work. But I assume the creators and auction house will take (the proceeds).”
Other academics that study the intersection of AI and art are raising questions about a missing “magical human moment”.
“I care about human stories. I care about what humans have to say. And I think art is a way of expressing that,” University of Oxford’s Professor Sandra Wachter told Reuters.
“If technology can help you make that human connection, I’m all for it.
“I’m just worried that doesn’t really happen, that the storytelling stops, that magical human moment just becomes something that will be reduced down to pressing a button.”
Loading YouTube content
As for a right of reply to the robot itself?
“The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies,” quotes attributed to Ai-Da Robot said in a Sotheby’s press release.
“A.I. God,” a portrait of pioneer Alan Turing, invites viewers to reflect on the god-like nature of AI and computing while considering the ethical and societal implications of these advancements.
“Alan Turing recognised this potential, and stares at us, as we race towards this future.”
