Digital artwork created by a robot is the latest to add to the buzz around non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the internet. Humanoid robot Sophia, which was created by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, sold a self-portrait of itself for a whopping $688,888.
The work, which saw Sophia “interpret” a depiction of her own face, was offered as a non-fungible token, or NFT, an encrypted digital signature that has revolutionized the art market in recent months.
The portrait, titled “Sophia Instantiation,” was created in collaboration with Andrea Bonaceto, an artist and partner at blockchain investment firm Eterna Capital. Bonaceto began the process by producing a brightly colored portrait of Sophia, which was processed by the robot’s neural networks. Sophia then painted an interpretation of the image.
The artwork includes a 12-second MP4 file that shows the transformation of Bonaceto’s painting into a digital painting. The auction also includes physical artwork of the painting made by the advanced artificial intelligence (AI). The buyer is another digital artist, known only as 888.
The act of painting was “based completely on decisions she made without any human assistance,” according to Nifty Gateway, the NFT marketplace that facilitated the sale.
Sophia is amongst the most advanced humanoid robots in the world, unveiled first in 2016. The robot has interviewed Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel and appeared at the New York Fashion Week. It has also performed a duet with The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon in the past.