Thousands of artists call for ‘mass theft’ AI auction to be cancelled

More than 3,000 artists have called for Christie’s to cancel its first-ever AI art auction, calling it “mass theft” of human artists’ work.

The petition urges the New York auction house to call off the event – where pieces range from $10,000 to $250,000 (£8,000 to £202,000) – citing “serious concern” over exploitation of artists.

“Many of the artworks you plan to auction were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a licence,” the petition says.

“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, directed at Christie’s, reads: “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 battleground over training AI models has resulted in a number of lawsuits between companies and creatives alleging copyright was breached in the training process.

Christie’s said the works in the auction used AI to “enhance” the art.

Concerns ‘completely justified’

One of the petition’s leading signatories, British composer Ed Newton-Rex, told Sky News he thinks the letter is “completely justified”.

He said: “It looks like around nine of the works in the auction were made using AI models that companies built using other artists’ work without permission.

“I don’t blame artists for using AI products that are available on the market, but I question why Christie’s would implicitly condone these models by selling these works for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, when the exploitative technology behind them is impoverishing so many artists desperately trying to make a living.”

‘Bullying’ artists

The AI-dedicated event, running from 20 February to 5 March, includes work by Refik Anadol, Claire Silver, Sasha Stiles and others.

Mat Dryhurst, a British artist whose work features in Christie’s auction, told Sky News he did not agree with the artists speaking out against Christie’s.

He said he “does not find attempts to bully artists in the least bit acceptable”.

He added: “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.”

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A spokesperson for Christie’s told Sky News: “The artists represented in this sale all have strong, existing multidisciplinary art practices, some recognised in leading museum collections.

“The works in this auction are using artificial intelligence to enhance their bodies of work.”