Ai-Da, the ultra-realistic humanoid robot artist, just rolled out a portrait of King Charles III at the United Nations’ AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva. The artwork comes with Buckingham Palace’s blessing.
Created in Oxford by Aidan Meller and built by Engineered Arts, Ai-Da uses cameras in her eyes to capture images. AI algorithms then convert these into real-time brush movements, letting her paint and draw live. Meller says she can even talk using a language model during her sessions.
The artist’s past work includes a 2024 triptych of Alan Turing, which sold for over £1 million at auction. Last year, Ai-Da painted Queen Elizabeth II. Now, the focus is on King Charles III, chosen due to the fast pace of tech and environmental questions around his role. 
Meller reflects on the project’s impact:
“You can meet her, you can talk to her using her language model and she’s then able to paint and draw you from sight.”
“People have got very much 1950s robots in their head – the reality is that actually they’re very engaging.”
“It’s not until you look a robot in the eye and they say your name that the reality of this new sci-fi world that we are now currently in really takes hold.”
“We hope that Ai-Da’s artwork is able to be a provocation to have that discussion.”
“Working with a robot is throwing up lots of questions about the relationship we have actually with ourselves.”
“The biggest realisation from the six years working with Ai-Da was ‘not so much about how human she is but actually how robotic we are.'”
Ai-Da is connected to the internet and selects subjects through conversation. Meller said:
“Uncannily, and rather nerve-wrackingly, we just ask her.”
“Ai-Da is connected to the internet [and] she’s able to speak at length about different people because she has a great deal of data to hand.”
“It was through those conversations that the artwork is then able to be done.”
This latest portrait of King Charles III is part of Ai-Da’s growing presence at major events, pushing the conversation on AI, art, and humanity.
