Aidan Meller

Aidan Meller, the creator of the robot artist Ai-Da, is the director of two galleries set like jewels in historic settings: one amid the grey spires of Oxford, the second in an Elizabethan manor that inspired “The Wind in the Willows.” The galleries display top works from prestigious artists, from Pablo Picasso to Auguste Rodin.

Yet Meller has a foot in two worlds. He’s also the creator of Ai-Da, the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist.

Ai-Da has compellingly beautiful eyes and sometimes wears a scarf draped on her mechanical shoulders. Viewing the world through cameras in her eyes, Ai-Da interprets what she sees in original paintings, drawings and performance art. Her paintings are vivid designs that resemble Cubism.

One reason Meller created Ai-Da is to explore the relationship between humans and machines. Is Ai-Da art because she was created, or an artist because she creates? Is she a character in her own right or an avatar of her creator?

Meller studied art history and trained at Sotheby’s. While traveling in Europe, he met a group of artists who showed him how dramatically art can transform one’s worldview.

An expert who’s appeared on the BBC and Sky News, Meller gives tours of Old Masters and modern classics in his remarkable gallery. He has established the Aidan Meller Art Prize for the development of the arts.

“The whole point of [the Ai-Da] project is to engage audiences to question where future technologies are going,” he says. While Ai-Da is still a controversial figure in the art world, Meller says she is a product of her time, just as any artist.

Meller suggests that all artists have an imperative task: to reflect the society of the time in which they live. “Leonardo (da Vinci) reflected the Renaissance at the time. Andy Warhol in the 60’s, reflected manufacturing and the rise of consumerism…Ai-Da reflects the technological uses that we’re using today.”

©Prophets of AI