Christie's AI Art Auction Sparks Outrage: Artists Protest Over Copyright Concerns and Unfair Competition

Christie's first major AI art auction, "Augmented Intelligence," in New York is facing backlash from artists. The auction, featuring AI-generated works by artists like Refik Anadol and Claire Silver, aims to raise $600,000. However, a day after its launch on February 20th, a protest letter signed by over 6,500 artists called for its cancellation. Christie's defends the auction, stating AI is the future of art and a tool for collaboration. The works range from NFTs to sculptures. However, protesting artists argue that AI models exploit human artists by using copyrighted work without permission to create competing commercial products. The open letter accuses Christie's of supporting the "mass theft" of artists' work. Christie's has yet to respond as the auction continues until March 5th.