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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Lifestyle
Sian Cain and agencies

First artwork painted by humanoid robot to sell at auction fetches $1m

The Ai-Da Robot in front of their portrait of British mathematician Alan Turing, titled A.I. God. The work sold for $1.32m.
The Ai-Da robot in front of their portrait of British mathematician Alan Turing, titled A.I. God. The work sold for $1.32m at Sotheby’s on Thursday. Photograph: Sotheby’s/EPA

A portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing has become the first artwork by a humanoid robot to be sold at auction, fetching US$1.08m (£566,000, A$1.63m) in New York on Thursday.

The 2.2 metre (7.5 feet) portrait, titled A.I. God. Portrait of Alan Turing, was created by Ai-Da, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist. It smashed pre-sale expectations between $120,000 and $180,000 when it went under the hammer at Sotheby’s, which confirmed that 27 bids were placed on the work.

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