AI Robot Ai-Da's Alan Turing Portrait Expected to Sell for Up to $180,000 at Sotheby’s Auction

The art industry has heard of AI work, and now there's an AI artist, with a piece set to fetch hundreds of thousands at Sotheby's.

Created by an AI-powered humanoid called Ai-Da Robot, the auction house will be selling off its Alan Turning portrait.

As explained by The Art Newspaper, there's a difference between AI-generated and Ai-Da Robot's artwork because the latter includes a physical presence. The humanoid was developed by Aidan Meller, a gallerist from Britain. With AI-generated art still being the subject of debate in the industry, Ai-Da will be the first of its kind to sell a piece at an art auction.

Auctioning Ai-Da Robot's Artwork

Titled A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing (2024), this humanoid-created artwork pays tribute to Alan Turing's contributions to computer science and technology, who faced prosecution in 1952 for his sexuality, which was illegal at the time.

According to Ai-Da's official Facebook post, the auction will not be the only major event for its work as it was also put up at a United Nations AI summit in Geneva earlier this year.

On the upcoming October 31 auction, the Alan Turning piece could sell between $120,000 and $180,000. Ai-Da developer, Meller stated that his earnings from the sale will be recycled into further developing the humanoid project.

Designed as a female, Ai-Da creates art thanks to her camera-like hazel eyes and robotic arms. Like any normal artist, she's also often seen in dark wig and denim overalls. Besides her historic appearance at the AI summit and the upcoming Halloween auction of Sotheby's, she spoke to the UK House of Lords and acknowledged her lack of human experiences. Despite that, she stated that she can still produce art by relying on other programs to function.

Meller explained that people often find Ai-Da unsettling, but she will challenge traditional ideas of art and humanity, one that Sotheby's will prove on the day of the auction.