“Flight”: a first sale of works created with artificial intelligence in Christie’s well criticized

“Intelligence increase”. Everything is in the title of this sale of works of art – “increased intelligence” in French – which includes around twenty pieces and stands online until March 5. The specialist in art and auctions in auction Christie’s opened this Thursday a great first in the world: an edition specialized in the sale of objects created with artificial intelligence.

Christie’s, as well as her competitor Sotheby’s, has already proposed objects designed with AI, but had never devoted an entire sale to this field of expression. “The AI ​​has become more prolific in our daily lives,” emphasizes Nicole Sales Giles, director of digital art sales within the auction house. More people understand the process and technology behind AI and therefore are more quick to appreciate it in a creative context. »»

A work at 240,000 euros

Many AI models now allow you to generate, on simple request in everyday language, a drawing, an animated image or having the appearance of a photo. “The artists of this sale use AI as a complement to their existing artistic practice,” explains Nicole Sales Giles. The set includes canvases, sculptures, photos or giant screens displaying fully digital works.

The sale is not to everyone’s taste and a petition has been put online to request its cancellation, without success. Many of the works submitted “were created using AI models known for having used work protected by intellectual property law without authorization,” highlight the authors of this letter, which has collected more than 6,300 signatures .

They believe that the event values ​​this practice, compared to “solid flight of human artists”. Several artists assigned to the courts, in 2023, of generative AI start-ups, including popular platforms Midjourney and Stability AI, accused of breaking intellectual property legislation.

Big name of digital art, and participating in the event with its animated creation “Machine hallucinations”, Réfik Anadol defended the sale on X, claiming that “the majority of the artists of the project use their own data and their own models” , without feeding on other works.

Signatory of the petition, the illustrator Reid Southern would like, at least, that the parts which do not use their own software or their own data be removed. A proportion he estimates to a third of the lots of the sale.