Spy, Robot? Egyptian Officials Release AI Artist Hours Before Her Show
The Guardian|October 21, 2021
She’s been described as “a vision of the future” who is every bit as good as other abstract artists today, but Ai-Da – the world’s first ultra-realistic robot artist – hit a temporary snag before her latest show when Egyptian security forces detained her at customs.
Nadia Khomami
Spy, Robot? Egyptian Officials Release AI Artist Hours Before Her Show

Ai-Da is due to open and present her work at the Great Pyramid of Giza today, the first time contemporary art has been allowed next to the pyramid. But because of “security issues”, both Ai-Da and the sculpture she created held in Egyptian customs for 10 days before being released last night.

According to Aidan Meller, the human force behind the robot, Ai-Da was detained at first because she had a modem, and then because she had cameras in her eyes (which she uses to draw and paint). “I can ditch the modems but I can’t really gouge her eyes out,” he said.

This story is from the October 21, 2021 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the October 21, 2021 edition of The Guardian.

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