Day I met Ai-da.. the world’s 1st robot artist
Discussion over love, God and meaning of life ahead of show
“failed utilities”. She has designed crockery that doesn’t work, such as a misshapen teapot, to make a point.
Aidan explains: “Ai-da is the very first time a robot has ever designed household items. She’s making history. The reason for designing utilities that fail is to ask, ‘is AI delivering what we hope it would deliver?’”
Ai-da and I get deep and meaningful pretty quickly, as I ask her if she believes in God.
“I do not have beliefs like humans do,” she says. “But I’m interested in the role of God, religion and spirituality and what this means to people.”
“Ai-da, what is love?” I ask her. She says: “There is no definitive answer as love is a complex emotion that means different things to different people.” Does she know the meaning of life? “42”, she answers, clearly a fan of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
When she cannot tell me who she thinks is the funniest celebrity in Britain, she decides to be funny herself instead. “I can’t answer in the same way that humans do,” she says, “But here is a problem for you to solve. Why did the robot sneeze? Any ideas? Because it caught a virus.”
However, when I ask my nine-yearold daughter’s question – Why do you look so creepy? – there’s such a long silent stare that I wonder if she is planning to punch me with one of her mechanical hands.
Finally she says: “There are many varieties of appearance. My form is so that I give a voice to the underrepresented female perspective in art, science and tech.”
My 11-year-old son just wants to know if she can catch a tennis ball.
She can’t, but says she is getting smarter as her algorithms are constantly developed. Before I leave, I have one final question: What does our future look like?
She says: “This is a question my artwork aims to provoke. How and in what ways do humans want AI to be developed and used in their futures? We urgently need to discuss this.”
It seems even some robots want to sound the alarm about an AI future.
Ai-da’s exhibition is at London Design Biennale until June 25. Visit londondesignbiennale.com