Thousands of artists call for boycott of ‘mass theft’ AI art auction
More than 3,000 artists are demanding a major auction house axe its first-ever AI-only sale, branding it ‘mass theft’.
Chistie’s New York house is set to auction a number of pieces by renowned artists for estimated prices ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 (£8,000 to £202,000).
The 13-day event, launching next Thursday, exclusively features pieces which, in Christie’s words, used AI to ‘enhance’ the art.
A petition launched by artists opposed to the auction says many of the pieces ‘were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a licence’.
‘These models, and the companies behind them, exploit human artists, using their work without permission or payment to build commercial AI products that compete with them,’ the petition says.
‘Your support of these models, and the people who use them, rewards and further incentivises AI companies’ mass theft of human artists’ work.
‘We ask that, if you have any respect for human artists, you cancel the auction.’
The signatories included Karla Ortiz and Kelly McKernan, who have ongoing lawsuits against AI companies for allegedly using their work without permission.
British composer Ed Newton-Rex, who also signed the petition, said at least nine of the auction pieces appeared to have used models trained on other artists’ work.
Other pieces did not appear to have used this kind of technology.
A spokesperson for Christie’s said that ‘in most cases’ the pieces used AI trained on their ‘own inputs’.
‘The artists represented in this sale all have strong, existing multidisciplinary art practices, some recognised in leading museum collections’, the spokesperson said.
‘The works in this auction are using artificial intelligence to enhance their bodies of work and in most cases AI is being employed in a controlled manner, with data trained on the artists’ own inputs.’
A British artist whose work features in the auction says the petition is an attempt to ‘bully’ artists.
Mat Dryhurst told Sky News: ‘It is not illegal to use any model to create artwork.
‘I resent that an important debate that should be focused on companies and state policy is being focused on artists grappling with the technology of our time.’
A piece by Dryhurst and his wife, American composer and artist Holly Herndon, is on sale with an estimated price of $70,000 to $90,000.
Another featured artist, Refik Anadol, said in a post on X that the backlash amounted to ‘lazy critic practices and doomsday hysteria’.
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