AI-produced artwork is moving from the fringes into the high art world

In a month, prestigious auction house Christie's will invite the upper crust of the art collector world to their Manhattan showroom to bid on a gold-framed impressionistic portrait of a European gentleman. It would be an ordinary affair in the world of high art, except for one detail: The portrait for sale was generated by AI, not a famous painter. It will be the first AI-produced artwork to be sold at a major auction house -- and is estimated to sell for $7,000 to $10,000. AI-generated art has existed for years -- remember those weird, trippy Google projects? Now -- with the Christie's auction, an AI-specific show at the Grand Palais museum in Paris earlier this year and another at one of the largest contemporary commercial galleries in India where artwork was priced at over $30,000 -- AI artwork is being appreciated and valued by the most elite art institutions.