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First Artwork Created By Humanoid Robot Sells At Auction For $1 Million

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The first artwork made by a humanoid robot has recently been sold for $1.08 million in New York this week. The painting is a portrait of English mathematician Alan Turing, and was created by Ai-Da, the “world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist.”

The portrait is 7.5 feet and is titled A.I. God. In pre-sale, the pricing exceeded expectations reaching bits of $180,000. 

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“Today’s record-breaking sale price for the first artwork by a humanoid robot artist to go up for auction marks a moment in the history of modern and contemporary art and reflects the growing intersection between AI technology and the global art market,” the Sotheby’s auction house said in a statement.

Ai-Da utilized AI to speak about their work:

“The key value of my work is its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies.”

“A portrait of pioneer Alan Turing invites viewers to reflect on the God-like nature of AI and computing while considering the ethical and societal implications of these advancements,” Ai-Da said. 

Ai-Da is currently one of the most advanced humanoid robots in the world. They’re designed to resemble a woman and was named after Ada Lovelace, who is regarded as the world’s first computer programmers, according to the Guardian. 

Aidan Meller is the specialist in modern and contemporary art who played a part in creating Ai-Da. 

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“The greatest artists in history grappled with their period of time, and both celebrated and questioned society’s shifts,” Meller said.

Meller was the leader of the team that created Ai-Da. He worked with AI specialists at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham. 

“The artwork’s muted tones and broken facial planes suggest the struggles Turing warned we will face when it comes to managing AI,” Meller said.

“Ai-Da’s works were ethereal and haunting and continue to question where the power of AI will take us, and the global race to harness its power,” he stated.

Back in 2022, Ai-Da was interviewed by the Guardian, and was asked if they painted from their “imagination,” to which they responded:

“I like to paint what I see. You can paint from imagination, I guess, if you have an imagination. I have been seeing different things to humans as I do not have consciousness.”

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Clara Peeters, The Forgotten 17th Century Artist Whose Painting Could Now Sell For Over $700,000 

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A painting of a basket of flowers from the early 17th-century is about to be sold at an auction in December. The untitled work is by Clara Peeters, a Flemish painter who was written out of art history for centuries. 

The flower still life itself has not been seen in public for over 100 years, and has never appeared in any art or art history books. Overall, very little is known about Peeters life. 

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The painting is a beautiful realistic work showing roses, carnations, tulips, and many other flowers in a wicker basket sitting on a ledge. It also features a little butterfly and cricket within the foreground. 

According to Chloe Stead, of Sotheby’s which is selling the painting, Peeters painting is done on copper, giving the piece an “enamel-like luster.”

Stead believes the painting could be sold at around £500,000 to £700,000 (more than $700,000 USD). 

“Peeters was forgotten for such a long time. There is a remarkable lack of detail known about her life, which is tantalizing given the extraordinary quality of her paintings,” Stead said.

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According to Stead, Peeters’ paintings were previously recorded as being from outside of Antwerp, with other indications suggesting that she was a successful artist. In her lifetime, she painted around 40 works, and the still like of flowers about to be auctioned has been in a private collection in Belgium since 1928. 

“Her paintings were quite prized objects and were being passed around. Which makes it so remarkable that she – like so many of her female contemporaries – were, over the centuries thereafter, written out of art history. And only rediscovered and reassessed in the mid-late 20th century,” Stead said

The painting will be sold alongside another natural-themed still life of apricots, peaches, and plums in a porcelain bowl by artist Louise Moillon in 1634. 

Stead said: “Moillon’s paintings are sublime. She’s an expert in texture, and it’s the contrast in this painting between the cool white of the porcelain bowl and the lovely fuzzy surface of the apricots and peaches that is such a treat.

“She’s got a larger oeuvre [than Peeters] but a lot of her paintings are in private collections in France. And so she’s a name that we see less often. It’s a beautiful picture.” It has an estimate of £600,000 to £800,000.

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Spotify Announces Bad Bunny As Its Most Streamed Artist In 2020

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Spotify is releasing their annual yearly reports for all of its users that give them a breakdown of their most listened to artists, songs, albums, podcasts, and more for the past year. Before they do though, they release their own stats for the artists and music that has topped their charts for the year. For 2020, Bad Bunny was the world’s most streamed artist with more than 8.3 billion streams of his discography. 

Bad Bunny, also known as Benito Ocasio, is the 26-year-old who was also given the accolade of 2020’s most streamed album, with his sophomore record “YHLQMDLG”, which was released back in February. 

Last week he dropped a surprise album titled “El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo,” and the lead single from the album, “Dakiti,” is currently the most streamed song in the world. For 2020 in general, The Weeknd received the reward for most streamed song with his record-breaking hit “Blinding Lights.” 

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Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, and fashion star who is no stranger to charting on some of the world’s most popular streaming services. Last year he was the fifth most streamed artist in the world, so his placement in the top ten this year, let alone as number one, isn’t that shocking. 

In general Bad Bunny has received massive commercial success and critical acclaims within the past year alone. He won the Latin Grammy for Best Reggaeton Performance in October, and is currently nominated for two awards at the 2021 Grammys.

Runners-up for the most-streamed male artists in 2020 are Drake, J Balvin, Juice WRLD, and the Weeknd; whose album “After Hours” broke records on the charts this year and came in as the second most streamed album of the year, despite being controversially snubbed from receiving any Grammy nominations this year. Post Malone, Harry Styles, and Dua Lipa take the other top 5 positions for most-streamed albums. 

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In terms of the artists with the most streamed songs of 2020, The Weeknd received the top spot with “Blinding Lights,” Tones & I followed with their popular TikTok song “Dance Monkey”, then its Roddy Ricch with “The Box”, Saint Jhn with “Roses”, and finally Dua Lipa with “Don’t Start Now.”

The most streamed female artists for 2020 in this order are Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, and Halsey. 

The most popular podcast for Spotify this year was the Joe Rogan Podcast, marking a massively successful first year for the production. Rogan is also thought to be the world’s highest-paid broadcaster, however, these claims are unconfirmed. 

Spotify started 2020 with 124 million paid subscribers and by the end of the year they had over 144 million; overall the platform has over 320 million users, the remaining amount of users accounts for those who use Spotify’s free package.