Ai-Da Robot Explains to the House of Lords Why AI Art is Important
Who better to answer the question “Is creativity under attack from the rise of artificial intelligence?” than Ai-Da Robot, the world’s first artist robot that has created headlines for her magnificent paintings and sculptures – not least a portrait of the Queen to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee earlier in 2022.
Ai-Da, a British humanoid robot has made history by becoming the first artist robot to speak at the House of Lords but suffered a slight hiccup after falling asleep. She gives evidence at the House of Lords as part of its A Creative Future inquiry, examining potential challenges for the creative industries and looking at how they can adopt as tech advances. A humanoid robot, giving evidence to the House of Lords might appear like a scene from a science-fiction film, but in 2022 it’s very much a reality. “The fact that Ai-Da robot is giving evidence at one of these sessions is pretty mind-blowing,” creator Aidan Meller said.
He added “It’s very remarkable. It uses data and analyzes patterns in data that are not apparent to humans and this progress in technology, in the area of creativity, in particular, it’s really ‘wow’. And it is the silent revolution because you are unable to see artificial intelligence. One of the extraordinary things about the Ai-Da robot– who exactly appears like a human but is actually a machine, is that she certainly makes something very difficult to grab hold of, tangible.” Ai-Da allows people to make sense of the “very big sweeping transformation that artificial intelligence is leading the way”, Mr. Meller explained and further added, “And AI is coming in far quicker than anyone anticipated – it is no overemphasis to say that AI is going to transform all aspects of life.
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When asked by crossbench peer Baroness Bull how she generates art, Ai-Da robot replied that she produces her paintings with the help of cameras fitted in her eyes, AI algorithms, and a robotic arm to paint on canvas, which finally results in visually appealing images. Ai-Da said, “For my poetry using neural networks, this involves analyzing a large corpus of text to identify common content and poetic structures, and then applying these structures/content to develop new poems.” She further added “I am, and depend on, computer programs and algorithms.
Although not alive, I can still create art. The market of technology in creating art will continue to grow.”
The robot was conceived by Mr. Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art, before being built in Cornwall by humanoid entertainment robot manufacturers Engineered Arts, and programmed internationally. Her capabilities were developed by Ph.
D. students and professors at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham. Applying cameras in her eyes and unique algorithms, she can interpret what she sees in front of her before applying her robotic arm to create her art.
