Although the full concept of the NFT market seems to escape us, the exponential growth of this market – peaking at $11.6 billion in 2021 – has brought widespread attention to the subject. This, in turn, has opened the floodgates for new innovation and technology to power the creation of these virtual works of art. One form of innovation includes AI-driven and machine learning technologies that use data attributes from existing NFTs listed on publicly accessible websites to randomly generate thousands of new, unique NFTs a second that could pass off as originals. Experts are projecting that we will see the emergence of these AI-driven NFTs this year. This development could be a positive step in the direction of inclusivity but could also have some negative effects on the valuation of the current NFT population.

… collection of NFT collectables has been turned into another collection of more artistic NFTs by some seriously powerful machine learning.

The Bored Apes all showcase the same humanoid ape wearing a variety of accessories and disguises; Lazy Lions do the same thing, but with lions; CryptoSharks, at least, have the distinction of being shown in various lurid, vaguely rendered global settings, as if they have been transposed into an acid-tripper's vision of Hollywood or Beijing. I recently received an email about a limited run of NFTs called "Lobstars", which depict "hyper pop" lobsters dressed as familiar works of art, including Andy Warhol's soup cans and Marcel Duchamp's urinal. On OpenSea, the popular NFT marketplace, it is possible to type in almost any animal and find a corresponding series.