Christie Enhanced intelligenceended Wednesday, March 5, beyond estimates, and according to the auction house, attracting a wave of fresh collectors.
The auction house said in a press release that the sale collected $728,784, exceeding the $600,000 forecast.
It is worth noting that nearly half of bidders (48%) identify themselves as millennials or Gen Z, while Christie’s first-time buyers are 37%. The highest-grossing plot, Machine Illusion – ISS Dream – Author: Refik Anadol, earned its $200,000 estimate for $277,200.
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Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst Double ty Embedding studies 1 and 2 (from Xhairymutantx series) It is another high, estimated at $94,500 between $70,000 and $90,000. The sale consists of 34 plots and sells for 82%.
Despite the strong opposition from thousands of artists, they still exploited AI models of human creativity without consent, but were auctioned. An open letter signed by nearly 4,000 people urged Christie to cancel the campaign, accusing AI-generated artworks of relying on datasets trained with copyrighted materials without compensation.
The letter ends with a plea: “Your support for these models, and those who use them, rewards and further inspires AI companies to steal works from human artists on a large scale. We ask if you have any respect for human artists, cancel the auction.”
In response, the auction house defended the legitimacy of featured artists, using AI as a tool for creative expansion rather than replacement. “The artists represented in this deal have strong, existing multidisciplinary art practices, some of which are recognized in leading museum collections,” the auction house said. Artnews then. “The works at this auction are using artificial intelligence to enhance their working body.”
In a press release, Nicole Sales Giles, vice president and director of digital art sales, said: “With this project, our goal is to focus on creativity that pushes the boundaries between technology and art. We also hope that collectors and the wider community will recognize their influence and significance in today’s art landscape. The results of this sale confirm that they did it.”
While some digital artists, including buzzers, advocate for sales, others condemn the symbol of the ongoing struggle between human art and machine-driven innovation. However, the results show that AI art (maybe possible) has a place in the market.
