Christie’s Announces Exhibition of AI-Created Paintings

Image source: Copilot

The announcement has sparked controversy, with critics raising concerns about the ethical implications of using neural networks in art. The works will include works by artists such as Mat Dryhurst, founder of artificial intelligence (AI) startup Spawning AI. But the centerpiece of the exhibition will be a robot that paints in real time, TechCrunch reports.

While the organisers stress that the auction “is designed to demonstrate how AI can empower artists and open up new creative horizons,” the reaction from users was immediate and far from positive. On social media, many pointed out that generative AI models such as DALL-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion were trained on artists’ works without their consent, and that Christie’s, by cultivating these works, is ignoring the rights and interests of artists.

In response to criticism, a spokesman for the auction house said: “The paintings in this sale represent strong and established artistic practices across a range of genres, some of which are represented in leading museum collections.” He added that the works in this sale use artificial intelligence to expand the artist’s arsenal, and in most cases the AI ​​models were trained on their own material.