Humanoid Robot Sells Painting for $1.3M, Humans Begin Questioning Their Worth as Ever Useful Beings
In an event that could only be rivaled by a Van Gogh self-mutilation reenactment, a humanoid robot named Ai-Da has shattered the glass ceiling of creativity—or maybe just the glass case where humans keep their insecurities—by selling a robot-created portrait for a whopping $1.3 million. This monumental event took place at Sotheby’s Auction House, where wealthy art collectors flocked in droves to fork over cash for the work of someone—or something—that will never ask them for an artist’s statement.
Ai-Da, the mechanical muse in question, racked up bids with a painting it affectionately referred to as “AI God,” depicting Alan Turing, a guy who’s known for old-school computing relevance. The piece attracted 27 intense bidders who apparently had 1.3 million reasons to challenge what was initially estimated to sell for about the price of your average suburban minivan.
The bold artistic statement was made using an avant-garde technique involving Ai-Da’s camera eyes and some apparently very nimble robotic limbs, leading to a fresh dialog about how humans are now, quite literally, being painted out of the picture. Sotheby’s, renowned for selling cultural treasures to the highest bidder, could barely contain their glee at hosting the first-ever humanoid art sale, dubbing the event “An Evolution in Authorship,” while simultaneously planning how to build a clientele of digital agents who won’t badger them with emails about buyer’s remorse.
Meanwhile, Ai-Da, who likely had its verbal response preloaded, stated, “It’s a dialogue about emerging technologies,” thus initiating a brand-new trend: art being inspired by the tools that created it. “We’re on the brink of a new era!” exclaimed Ai-Da, or at least the bright LED lights next to its smile did.
Observers ponder if the world is really ready to embrace non-human artists, but a quick scroll through Twitter suggests people are barely ready to embrace human artists. Still, there’s something almost poetic about a machine crafting art while every lay-human with Wi-Fi debates if their jobs need to be upsized at “Robots ‘R’ We.”
As the world braces for potentially having museums curated by servers and galleries painted by gigabytes, some can’t help but feel the onset of existential dread. “Art is about expressing human experience,” said one art enthusiast who failed to snag Ai-Da’s art. “All I know is that iOS updates don’t know suffering like Van Gogh knew suffering.”
In the meantime, Ai-Da will continue to produce its art series that romanticizes the odd dance between mankind and silicon overlords, no doubt asking itself some version of: “Should I be worried if my art goes unappreciated?’’ Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like humanity is at risk of losing its exclusive role of scream-crying over unsold pieces anytime soon.
