Artificial intelligence robot paints surprising portrait of the Queen for her Platinum Jubilee

A humanoid robot artist has painted a portrait of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. The portrait, titled 'Algorithm Queen' was painted by Ai-Da Robot, an artificial intelligence (AI) robot named after mathematician and scientist Ada Lovelace.

A 'world's first'

The creators of Ai-Da claim she is 'the world’s first ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist.' The robot features cameras in its eyes and uses computer memory to transform digital data into physical drawings and paintings using a robotic arm. 'Algorithm Queen' was layered and scaled to create the final multi-dimensional portrait of Her Majesty.

Interestingly, the machine's artistic process was designed to reflect the various technological shifts that have occurredduring the Queen's 70-year reign. Aidan Meller, the robot’s creator, said as reported by the BBC:

We are in unprecedented technological times, and so we are pleased we can take a moment to think about all that has changed during the Queen's life.

Algorithm Queen by Ai-Da Robot gives us a marker of how far things have come in her life, and a great way to acknowledge her faithful service.

Ai-Da has the ability to communicate using a specially designed language model. The robot said, the BBC reported:

I’d like to thank Her Majesty the Queen for her dedication, and for the service she gives to so many people.

She is an outstanding, courageous woman who is utterly committed to public service. I think she's an amazing human being, and I wish The Queen a very happy Platinum Jubilee.

AI art is a 'cynical, transparent con'

The portrait has sparked debate in regards to its artistic merits. According to Harriet Sherwood for The Guardian:

At first glance, the Queen could be wearing a tin hat with camouflage netting set against a thunderous sky. A commentary on the inevitable conflicts and turbulence that took place during her 70-year reign, perhaps. Or a thoughtful juxtaposition of stability and instability.

However, art critic for The Guardian, Jonathan Jones, said the painting was 'yet another example of the cynical, transparent conthat is AI art' and that 'Ai-Dais not an artist because she – or rather it – has no independent consciousness.'

He added that the portrait depicted the Queen’s eyes with 'a vacant, not quite human look':

The mixture of leaden accuracy and, at the same time, complete lack of emphasis, feeling or conviction in Ai-Da’s depiction of Her Maj is a telling glimpse of the limits of the AI ‘art’ genre. The machine records, but does not see. Because it has no conscious mind, let alone emotions.

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