Christie’s first AI art auction sparks controversy among artists

Christie’s will host its first auction dedicated to AI-generated art, featuring works by artists like Refik Anadol and Claire Silver, from February 20 to March 5, 2025. While it marks a new era for AI in art, over 3,000 artists protest, calling it “mass theft,” citing concerns over copyright violations.

In a move that could redefine the art world, Christie’s is set to host its first-ever auction exclusively dedicated to AI-generated art. Featuring over 20 lots by pioneers in artificial intelligence-driven creativity – including Refik Anadol, Alexander Reben, Harold Cohen, and Claire Silver – the auction will run from February 20 to March 5, 2025, at the Rockefeller Center in New York. However, not everyone is celebrating this milestone: more than 3,000 artists have signed a petition demanding its cancellation, calling AI-generated art a form of “mass theft.”

ONCE AGAIN: CAN AI BE INVOLVED AS AN ARTISTIC MEDIUM?

According to Nicole Sales Giles, Vice President and Director of Digital Art Sales at Christie’s, the auction is a testament to the evolving relationship between art and technology. “This sale redefines the role of human intervention in fine art within the AI era“, she said, emphasizing AI’s historical trajectory from 1960s experiments to modern-day neural networks, robotics, and interactive installations. The auction follows the footsteps of Refik Anadol’s major installation at MoMA, which cemented AI’s place in museum collections.

Among the highlights of the auction is Emerging Faces by Pindar Van Arman, a 2017 series in which two AI systems collaborate: one generating and painting portraits while the other disrupts the process when it detects recognizable human features. Estimated to fetch between $180,000 and $250,000, the series is already part of the permanent collection at LACMA. Another notable piece is Embedding Study 1 & 2 by Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst, a work exploring digital identity through an AI trained on Herndon’s own likeness.

A BACKLASH FROM THE ART COMMUNITY

Despite Christie’s positioning the auction as a groundbreaking event, thousands of artists argue that AI-generated art is built upon unethical foundations. Artists Karla Ortiz and Kelly McKernan, both plaintiffs in lawsuits against AI companies, are among those opposing the sale. Their primary concern: many AI models were trained on copyrighted artworks without permission, allowing tech companies to commercialize AI-generated images that compete with human artists.

“Many of the artworks in this auction were created using AI models trained on copyrighted works without proper licensing“, states the protest letter addressed to Christie’s executives. “By supporting these models and those who profit from them, you are endorsing the mass theft of human artists’ labor. If you respect artists, you must cancel this auction“.