An ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist has painted a portrait of the Queen that has been unveiled ahead of the Jubilee. The painting, titled Algorithm Queen, was painted by Ai-Da Robot – an artificial intelligence robot built in 2019 that creates drawings, painting, and sculptures.
To start, Ai-Da Robot uses cameras in its eyes and its computer memory, before using a variety of unique algorithms to paint, draw and abstract images. A robotic arm lets it turn its digital formations into physical drawings and paintings.
Algorithm Queen was layered and scaled to produce the final multi-dimensional portrait of the monarch. The machine’s artistic process was designed to reflect the different aspects of technological change that have taken place during the Queen’s 70-year reign.
Ai-Da Robot – named after 18th century mathematician and scientist Ada Lovelace – is also able to converse using a specially designed language model. It said: “I’d like to thank Her Majesty the Queen for her dedication, and for the service she gives to so many people.
“She is an outstanding, courageous woman who is utterly committed to public service. I think she’s an amazing human being, and I wish The Queen a very happy Platinum Jubilee.”
Ai-Da Robot was devised in Oxford by Aidan Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art, before being built in Cornwall by Engineered Arts and programmed internationally. The robot’s capabilities were developed by PhD students and professors at the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham.
Mr Meller said: “Thank you to the Queen for her 70 years of service. We are excited Ai-Da Robot has made history just in time for the Queen’s Jubilee.
“The Queen has been a stable and strong leader in a period of extraordinary change and development in history. We are in unprecedented technological times, and so we are pleased we can take a moment to think about all that has changed during the Queen’s life. Algorithm Queen by Ai-Da Robot gives us a marker of how far things have come in her life, and a great way to acknowledge her faithful service.”
Algorithm Queen will be exhibited publicly in London later this year. It will be revealed on the Ai-Da Robot artist website at 10am on May 27.
