Digital artwork by robot sold at auction for more than $900,000

This article is more than 12 months old

Mar 26, 2021 06:00 am

HONG KONG : A digital artwork by humanoid robot Sophia was sold at an auction yesterday for US$688,888 (S$927,800) in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT).

NFTs are digital signatures saved on blockchain ledgers that allow anyone to verify the ownership and authenticity of items.

Sophia produced its art in collaboration with 31-year-old Italian digital artist Andrea Bonaceto.

The robot has combined elements from Mr Bonaceto's works, art history and its own physical drawings or paintings on various surfaces multiple times in a process that her creator, Mr David Hanson, describes as "iterative loops of evolution".

Titled Sophia Instantiation, the digital work is a 12-second MP4 file showing the evolution of Mr Bonaceto's portrait into Sophia's digital painting, and is accompanied by a physical artwork painted by Sophia on a printout of its self-portrait. - REUTERS