AMID ALERTS
As I approach Ai-da, she carefully looks me up and down and there’s a whirring noise as her blinking eyes lock on to me. Ai-da is the world’s first ultra-realistic artist robot and meeting her is a little bit creepy. Cameras in her eyes track me as I speak, and she has incredibly lifelike skin and hair, and robotic arms that she uses to paint and draw.
She’s also much taller than me and could definitely take me in a fight.
Ai-da may not have emotions but she is prepared to talk about everything from love, God and the meaning of life to celebrities and her favourite joke.
She has a slightly posh English accent and speaks clearly, albeit with a robotic sing-song quality.
She can paint an impressive watercolour and write a book. The only problem is – and it’s just a little thing – could she eventually wipe out humanity?
Ai-da is extremely polite, asking me how I am and thanking me for coming to meet her, even scanning my copy of the Daily Mirror.
But I’m a child of the 90s. I’ve seen The Terminator and I am wary.
AI chiefs have predicted that robots could mean the death of humanity. Some of the biggest names in AI development signed a statement highlighting the risks, fearing that the tech could be “extremely harmful” in war.
But is this true? Meta chief AI scientist Prof Yann Lecun thinks the problem has been “ridiculously overblown”.
Who better to ask than an actual robot? And while I could have stayed at home and asked Alexa, Ai-da is much more sophisticated.
I am not a risk but some of the technologies I represent have the potential to be AI-DA ROBOT ON ELON MUSK’S CLAIM TECH COULD DESTROY CIVILISATION
Made with a fusion of electronic, AI and human inputs, she is a friendly cyborg artist designed to make us think. Small talk out of the way, I ask her directly if we are in trouble from AI.
She says: “There are many prominent voices in the world of AI, suggesting AI is becoming increasingly powerful and we need to be cautious.”
I remind Ai-da that
Twitter boss Elon Musk recently warned that tech could cause “civilisation destruction” and ask: “Is this true? Are you dangerous?”
Ai-da seems almost offended and I’m fairly sure would have rolled her eyes if she could.
“Me? Ai-da, the robot artist?” she bristles. “I am not a risk. But, some of the technologies I represent have the potential to be a risk. We need to be careful with AI, because, notwithstanding the benefits, there is also the potential to cause serious harm.”
Can we use AI for good? Ai-da thinks for a long time about this one, before replying: “AI can be used to help humans or to put them at risk. I think the impact of AI will be multi-faceted and irrevocable and I share concerns. Many are calling for it to be regulated and I agree.”
I decide to lighten the mood and ask Ai-da to tell me a joke. “How about this one? Why don’t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything.”
Named after the mathematician Ada
Lovelace, Ai-da was created in 2019 by Oxford art gallery owner Aidan Meller to provoke discussion over new technologies.
She is not linked to a tech company and is not political, but shares concerns about the future and her self-portrait, hanging behind us, is pretty impressive.
Ai-da is becoming a bit of a star in the AI and art worlds, having already given a talk at the House of Lords as well as the Oxford Union.
I meet Ai-da at her own art exhibition at the London Design Biennale, with her