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Alan Turing’s artificial intelligence work sold for  million
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Alan Turing’s artificial intelligence work sold for $1 million

A painting of famed Second World War codebreaker Alan Turing created by an AI robot has sold at auction for $1,084,800 (£836,667).

Sotheby’s said there were 27 bids for the digital art sale of “AI God”, which was originally estimated to sell for between $120,000 (£9,252) and $180,000 (£139,000).

Mathematician Turing was a pioneer of computer science and known as the father of artificial intelligence (AI).

The auction house said the historic sale “initiated a new frontier in the global art market by establishing the auction benchmark for a work of art made by a humanoid robot.”

He added that Ai-Da Robot’s work was “the first humanoid robot artist to have a work of art sold at auction.”

An artificial intelligence robot named Ai-Da stands in front of a work of art she created. It shows a woman with dark short hair, wearing a blue top and black denim overalls, displaying two robotic arms.An artificial intelligence robot named Ai-Da stands in front of a work of art she created. It shows a woman with dark short hair, wearing a blue top and black denim overalls, displaying two robotic arms.

In total, Ai-Da Robot painted 15 of Alan Turing’s paintings and took about eight hours to complete (Ai-Da Robot Studios)

The work is an original large-scale portrait of Turing, who studied at King’s College, Cambridge.

The scientist played a crucial role in the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War by helping to break the codes at Bletchley Park and decrypt the infamous Enigma machine.

After the war he produced a detailed design for a modern digital computer.

The online sale, which ended at 19:00 GMT on Thursday, was purchased by an anonymous buyer for “well above the estimated price of the artwork”, Sotheby’s said.

An AI-generated portrait of Alan Turing shows his face focusing on his eyes. Colors are dark, mostly beige, brown and black. He has a small yellow dot on the left of his face, and two blue dots on the right, above and below his eyes.An AI-generated portrait of Alan Turing shows his face focusing on his eyes. Colors are dark, mostly beige, brown and black. He has a small yellow dot on the left of his face, and two blue dots on the right, above and below his eyes.

Alan Turing is known as the father of modern computers (Ai-Da Robot Studios)

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 artificial intelligence technology and the global art market.”

“The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies,” said Ai-Da Robot, which uses an advanced AI language model to speak.

Robot said the work “invites viewers to reflect on the divine nature of artificial intelligence and computing, considering the ethical and societal implications of these advances.”

“Alan Turing recognized this potential and is looking out for us as we race towards this future.”

Ai-Da Robot is an artificial intelligence robot that stands in front of various works of art. He has his photo taken by two people standing in front of him. You can see a camera and light. A man walks away and another man is on the mezzanine. The ground is green.Ai-Da Robot is an artificial intelligence robot that stands in front of various works of art. He has his photo taken by two people standing in front of him. You can see a camera and light. A man walks away and another man is on the mezzanine. The ground is green.

Ai-Da Robot participated in the United Nations Global Summit on Artificial Intelligence for Good (Ai-Da Robot Studios) in 2023 and 2024.

Aidan Meller, Director of Ai-Da Robot Studios, said: “This auction is an important moment for the visual arts, where Ai-Da’s artworks focus on the art world and societal changes as we grapple with the emerging age of artificial intelligence.

“As AI gains more power, the ‘AI God’ artwork raises questions about agency.”

The sale price was originally quoted as $1.3 million, but was later corrected by the auctioneer.

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