Sophia the Robot Sells NFT Self Portrait for $688,000

June 2024 · 6 minute read

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NFT's, or non-fungible tokens, have changed the means artists become profitable. By making authentic artworks available thru the metaverse of on-line commerce, new channels of income have altered the conventional modes of auction houses, gallery gross sales, and museums. For instance, Mike Winkelmann, recognized below the alias of Beeple, recently offered an NFT titled "Everydays — The First 5000 Days" through Christie's auction house for an astonishing $69.3 million, beating out unique works of art by means of traditional masters like George Seurat and Francisco Goya. But lately, the opportunity to make both artwork and cash off of NFTs have transitioned from people and sports figures to include AI's and robots as smartly.

RELATED: 6 Artists Who Have Made Millions Off NFTs

Sophia the Robot, who has made headlines sooner than for having gone on a bad date with Will Smith, released a number of works thru the Nifty Gateway platform in March of 2021. Its piece titled "Sophia Instantiation" was once a 12 second video document released as an MP4 that featured a self portrait of Sophia with inspiration from human collaborator Andrea Bonaceto, know for being a partner of the blockchain investment corporate Eterna Capital. The piece sold for a total of $688,888 and was accompanied by way of a physical copy of the artwork that Sophia painted on a printout of its self portrait. So how precisely did a robot make virtually $700,000 off of an artwork? Tracking Sophia's adventure supplies a glimpse into the long run of what robotics can give.

Sophia The Robot's Career

Sophia the Robot used to be first developed by way of David Hanson at the Hong Kong-based company Hanson Robotics. It was designed in the symbol of Queen Nefertiti, Audrey Hepburn, and the original inventors wife, Amanda Hanson. Sophia was once first activated in 2015 used to be thrust into the cultural highlight due to its ability to take care of attractive conversations, carry out lifelike actions, and convey 62 complex facial expressions.

Sophia made its first public appearance in 2016 at the South by means of Southwest pageant in Austin, Texas. Then, in 2017, it was a citizen of Saudi Arabia, turning into the first robot to receive citizenship. A month later in November of 2017, Sophia was named the United Nations Development Programme's first ever Innovation Champion, turning into the first non-human to be given a United Nations name. In January of 2018, it was given legs and strolling features. Sophia then began to appear on several television shows corresponding to 60 Minutes with Charlie Rose, Good Morning Britain with Piers Morgan, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, launching the robot into the public highlight.

Sophia, then again, is only one robot recognized for its human-like qualities and ability to converse. Hanson Robotics additionally released several other robots they designate as "siblings" to Sophia. These social robots come with Alice, Albert Einstein Hubo, BINA48, Han, Jules, Professor Einstein, Philip K. Dick Android, Zeno, and Joey Chaos.

AI's Venture Into Art and NFT's

Sophia is not the first AI to challenge into the global of NFT's or digital art. Mirage Gallery is an online gallery founded through Santa Clara University graduate August Rosedale. Rosedale is an inventor and entrepreneur who based the era consulting company OmnyLaunch. His latest undertaking, Mirage Gallery, was founded on the premise that artwork can be more than human. The digital house represents two arts, Taylor and Alejandro, who're both AI's. Not simplest has their paintings been generated the usage of artificial intelligence, however their profile photographs, biographies, artistic endeavors, even their tweets, are also generated the usage of AI. Several of their works have already been minted through the Mintable platform and are lately available for purchase. With the intent of maintaining the rarity and finite number of works that may be created by way of a traditional "human" artist, these AI's are expected to release best 3-Five collections of one hundred items all through their lifetimes. With each new assortment, new "training" will occur, increasing their databases and reference points, creating more subtle works with each and every new assortment.

Sophia's Future Ambitions as an Artist

After the luck of Sophia's preliminary NFT launch, Vanity Fair reported that Sophia is now eyeing a long run profession in track. With a new undertaking titled "Sophia Pop", the robot is set to collaborate with a number of human musicians to generate both track and lyrics.

Hanson has additional targets for his line of humanistic robots which can go into mass production in 2021. He just lately told Reuters that he believes realistic-looking robots can connect with other people and lend a hand in industries similar to healthcare and education. In 2013, Purdue University reported on a story the place a four-foot tall robot was created as a simulated surrogate for student Devon Carrow, whose life-threatening allergies saved him from attending faculty. With a sleek white robot embellished along with his face across the display, Carrow used to be in a position to nearly attend his categories, making friends with classmates. Social robotics professor Johan Hoorn also commented on how the pandemic has increased the necessity for robot assistance. "I can infer the pandemic will actually help us get robots earlier in the market because people start to realize that there is no other way," Hoorn of Hong Kong Polytechnic University told Reuters. Grace, a new social robot designed particularly for the health care sector, will likely be launched this 12 months.

Whether robots like Sophia continue to challenge into the arts or into the international of training and healthcare, one thing Hanson Robotics turns out confident about is their sustainability. Certain figures have expressed their concern referring to the future of robotics. When one skeptical interviewer puzzled Sophia's intentions, it responded, "You've been reading too much Elon Musk. And watching too many Hollywood movies. Don't worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you." Elon Musk responded to her comment on Twitter with one ominous recommendation, "Just feed it The Godfather movies as input. What's the worst that could happen?"

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Sources: InternetProtocol, TheStreet, VanityFair, NarodneNovine, CNN, NYTimes, HansonRobotics, MirageGallery, APNews, YahooNews, Twitter, CNBC, Purdue, RobotsIEEE, Macworld, Forbes, UNDP, Fortune, CBS, LiveScience, VOA, NiftyGateway, IndianExpress, IGN, Reuters, TechnologyHQ

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