Ida, British robot artist arrested in Cairo for ‘espionage’ – Corriere.it

from our reporter
LONDON – We already know that the repression of the Sisi dictatorship in Egypt stops at nothing: this time the regime’s thugs caught a robot. In fact, the robot “artist”, i.e. DA, the artificial creature who came to the world two years ago in Great Britain and is now world famous for the pictures he paints.

Ai-Da had to participate in forever nowInternational Exhibition of Contemporary Art in the Pyramids: But she was stopped at the airport and confiscated from her companions. Apparently, she posed a security risk because of the cameras hidden in her eyes – in other words, they accused her of being a spy.

The robot was held “in a cell” for ten days: And only at the last minute, thanks to the intervention of the British Embassy, ​​she was released and yesterday was able to participate in the exhibition. “She’s a robot artist — her creator,” Aidan Miller said — we have to be clear, she’s not a spy. I understand people are afraid of bots: but the whole situation is ironic, because the purpose of Ai-Da is precisely to emphasize and warn against misuse of technology. But she was arrested because she is a technology.” During his kidnapping days, Miller worried that the robot could be physically harmed: “It’s the world’s most advanced ultra-realistic robot.”

After her release yesterday, she took her picture in front of the pyramids: It is the first time that an art exhibition, organized under the auspices of UNESCO, has been held in the famous archaeological complex and the robot is one of ten artists selected to participate. His work is a sculpture that reinterprets the mystery of the Sphinx: a huge clay self-portrait with three legs.

In these two years of “life”, Ai-Da was exhibited in many British museumsFrom the Tate Modern to the Design Museum to Victoria & Albert: and on the occasion of her London debut Courier service He had the opportunity to meet her and “meet her”. An experience, this, is very disturbing: Ai-Da looks at you blinking and similarly answers questions, often ringing philosophical reflections. He looks around and captures reality through his fake eyes and draws what he sees with his mechanical arm. One of his works has also been used on the cover of a magazine reading, Cultural Attaché of Courier service.

Books “A New Voice for the Artistic World” The New York Times
; “In all respects as valid as many of today’s abstract artists,” echoed Daily Telegraph; “It blurs the lines between machine and artist,” he concluded. time. Since Ai-Da is not the kind of big printer – its creator emphasized – that would limit itself to reproducing what it records: the works it creates are almost abstract works, the result of a different and unexpected rework each time.

Ai-Da was invented by a group of Oxford engineers It uses a complex artificial intelligence mechanism developed at the famous British university. Its name is a play on words between AI (artificial intelligence) and Ada Lovelace, the 19th century English mathematician, daughter of Lord Byron, famous for creating the first algorithm that is the basis of modern computers.

The result is a humanoid robot capable of learning and recreating reality. In his approach there are collaborations with real artists, a Ted Talk and even an interview with the Artistic Director of the Royal Academy in London.