Robot artist exhibits in London for the first time

01-06-2021 by MNP

Art and imagination are often viewed as uniquely human traits, but today an artificial intelligence robot called "Ai-Da" has been programmed to be creative.

Ai-Da is not named after its creator Aidan Meller, but is directly inspired by Ada Lovelace, considered the first woman programmer in history, who died in 1852 when computers did not yet exist. A mathematician and writer, she worked with Charles Babbage's calculating machine, considered the forerunner of computer science. She created the first algorithm to be processed by a machine, and that is why she is considered the first software programmer.

Ai-Da's creator, gallery director Aidan Meller, explains that the robot can "see" using two cameras, one in each eye. They are connected to a computer vision system that is then interrogated by an algorithm.

This system allows him to take portraits of people in front of him.

The result is not a realistic drawing. Ai-Da's work is based on cubism, with dotted lines that define a human face.

Thanks to the algorithm, each job is unique and will not be repeated by the robot.

The artist robot has opened an exhibition at London's Design Museum, which reopened after restrictions on the coronavirus were eased in the UK.

The exhibition includes a series of self-portraits created through a mixture of brushstrokes from Ai-Da, IA and the help of the human hand.