AI-generated art has made history with a sale of $432,500! This stunning price was achieved at a Christie's auction in 2018, where the artwork "Portrait of Edmond de Belamy" was sold to an anonymous buyer ¹ ² ³. The sale was a significant milestone, not only because of the artwork's unique creation process but also due to its massive price tag, which exceeded the estimated value of $7,000 to $10,000 by a whopping 43 times ¹ ².
The artwork was created by Obvious, a Paris-based collective, using a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN) algorithm. This algorithm was trained on a dataset of 15,000 portraits painted between the 14th and 20th centuries ¹ ² ³. The result was a unique portrait that blended traditional art with modern technology.
Interestingly, the sale sparked controversy within the AI art community, with some questioning the extent of Obvious' contribution to the artwork ¹ ². Robbie Barrat, a 19-year-old AI artist, claimed that Obvious used his GAN package, available on GitHub, without sufficient credit ¹ ³.
Despite the controversy, the sale marked a significant moment in the intersection of art and technology. As Mark Riedl, an associate professor of AI and machine learning, noted, "The algorithm isn't the only thing that went into creating this art—GANs don't have free will" ³. Instead, they're complex tools that can achieve unique effects.
The sale of "Portrait of Edmond de Belamy" has opened up new discussions about the role of AI in art and the value we place on creative works. What do you think about AI-generated art? Do you see it as a revolutionary force or a novelty?