Artificial intelligence has made great progress in the last few years. We’ve taught computers to do everything from translating text to drone flights, but can you imagine an algorithm being used to create art?

Recently, a piece of AI-generated artwork was created and auctioned off for a surprising $432,500. That is about forty-five times higher than the estimated value! The piece, titled Portrait of Edward de Belamy, is the first AI-created painting to have been auctioned off. 

The portrait was created by Obvious, a Parisian group of three friends who’ve been working on a project to create art through artificial intelligence. Their software analyzes over fifteen thousand portraits created between the 14th and 20th century and using the patterns, it creates a new work. This is then run through the software to see if it can spot any differences between the artificial creation and real paintings.

The team has found that AI is most effective in generating portraits. Critics point to the fact that the painting looks distorted as if it were drawn by a child, and that such algorithms have been used for years. While it is too soon to determine the exact potential of such technology, some believe that we could see concepts such as virtual reality performance art becoming a reality within a few years. 

Source: BBC, NYTimes, CNN