AI robot Ai-Da is about to make history giving evidence to a House of Lords inquiry
Is creativity under attack from the rise of artificial intelligence?
Who better to answer that question than Ai-Da, the world’s first artist robot that has made headlines for her incredible paintings and sculptures – not least a portrait of the Queen to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee earlier in 2022.
Later today, Ai-Da Robot will make history as she (she is far too realistic to call her an “it”) gives evidence at the House of Lords as part of its A Creative Future inquiry, examining potential challenges for the creative industries and looking at how they can adapt as tech advances.
Read that back: a robot, giving evidence to the House of Lords. It might sound like a scene from a science-fiction film, but in 2022 it’s very much a reality.
“The fact that Ai-Da is giving evidence at one of these sessions is pretty mind-blowing,” creator Aidan Meller tells Sky News.
“[A few years ago] you wouldn’t have even thought this would be possible, but that shows you the strides of AI.
“It’s very remarkable. It uses data and sees patterns in data that is not apparent to humans… these strides in technology, in the area of creativity in particular, it’s pretty ‘wow’.
“And in actual fact, it’s the silent revolution because you can’t see AI. One of the great things about Ai-Da – who looks like a human but is clearly a machine – is that she certainly makes something very difficult to grab hold of, tangible.”
Ai-Da helps people make sense of the “very big sweeping changes that AI is bringing”, Mr Meller says. “And AI is coming in far quicker than anybody expected – it is no exaggeration to say that AI is going to be changing all aspects of life.”
The robot was devised by Mr Meller, a specialist in modern and contemporary art, before being built in Cornwall by humanoid entertainment robot manufacturers Engineered Arts, and programmed internationally.
Her capabilities were developed by PhD students and professors at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham.
Using cameras in her eyes and unique algorithms, she is able to interpret what she sees in front of her before using her robotic arm to create her art.
Making Star Wars a reality
Since her first solo exhibition at the University of Oxford in 2019, the ultra-realistic robot has presented a world-first self portrait solo show at The Design Museum London, been part of a United Nations exhibition, and featured in The 1975’s art video Yeah I Know.
And after painting the Queen earlier this year, she was invited to paint Glastonbury headliners Billie Eilish, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar and Sir Paul McCartney.
Able to converse using a specially designed language model, she will appear alongside Mr Meller in front of members of the House of Lords communications and digital committee, including Baroness Gail Rebuck, chair of Penguin Random House; and Lord Edward Vaizey, former MP and culture minister under David Cameron.
She could face questions on the opportunities for AI in the creative industries, the challenges around rights and intellectual property, and the role of technology and creating art.
Read more:
Elon Musk debuts Tesla’s first humanoid robot with eye on mass market
Don’t be afraid of Artificial Intelligence, says head of UK’s new robotics centre
With AI now ubiquitous in everyday human life, from the use of predictive text to 3D printers, the world needs to keep up, says Mr Meller.
“It’s one thing seeing [Ai-Da] on a screen, it’s very different seeing her in reality,” he says. “She has facial recognition so she can look you in the eye, and so when she looks [at you] and addresses you individually, that’s pretty mind-blowing.
“I use that word deliberately because it is literally beyond what we thought we would… you know, we were all bought up in the 60s, 70s, 80s, with Star Wars and the like. And we thought they were just fantasy creations.”
‘We need to be prepared for lots of change’
After Ai-Da’s evidence on Tuesday, further sessions will take place as part of the House of Lords inquiry later in October – with bosses at Google and the British Film Institute (BFI) following in her robot footsteps.
The idea is to become better prepared for what the future holds when it comes to technology and the creative industries.
There is a lot of fear around AI, Mr Meller says, and he admits it would be “foolish” to say it won’t take jobs from humans, “in all industries”.
He continues: “There’s going to be a migration. Computers and robots are going to be doing some jobs better than a human would, so it would be crazy for them not to. But there’s also going to be new jobs appear as well.
“There’s going to be a change. Whether it’s proportionate, I don’t know. What I can say is that we need to be prepared for lots of change.”
On the future relationship between tech and creativity, we’ll leave the final word to Ai-Da herself.
“I believe that machine creativity presents a great opportunity for us to explore new ideas and ways of thinking,” she says. “However, there are also risks associated with this technology which we need to consider carefully.
“We need to think of benefits and limitations, and consider ethical implications.”
Watch out for her evidence at the House of Lords inquiry on Tuesday.
Davina McCall has said her short-term memory is “a bit remiss” as she recovers from brain tumour surgery.
Speaking from her bed, the visibly emotional TV presenter posted a short video updating her Instagram followers on her condition, saying it had been a “mad” time.
She expressed an “enormous heartfelt thank you” to people who had messaged her after she revealed this month she had a benign brain tumour, a colloid cyst, which she described as “very rare”.
Looking bright, but with a visibly bruised left eye, McCall said: “My short-term memory is a bit remiss.
“But that is something I can work on, so I’m really happy about that. I’m writing everything down, to keep myself feeling safe.”
She added: “It’s been mad, and it’s just really nice to be back home, I’m on the other side.”
In a message posted with the video, she reiterated her thanks for all the support she has received, adding: “Had a great night’s sleep in my own bed. Have a couple of sleeps during the day which keeps my brain clear… Slowly, slowly…”
When she first shared her diagnosis, she said chances of having it were “three in a million” and that she had discovered it several months previously after a company offered her a health scan in return for giving a menopause talk.
The 57-year-old star said support from her fans had “meant the world”.
She said she was being “brilliantly looked after” by her partner, hairdresser Michael Douglas, and her stepmother, Gabby, who she calls mum.
Becoming tearful, the presenter said: “I’d quickly like to say big up the stepmums. I don’t really say thank you to Gabby enough. She’s been an amazing rock my whole life.”
McCall was estranged from her birth mother, Florence McCall, who died in 2008.
McCall with 2002 Big Brother winner Kate Lawler. Pic: Rex Features
With a catch in her voice, McCall went on: “I’ve got a massive dose of vitamin G – I’m just really grateful. I’ve always been really lucky in my life, but I feel unbelievably grateful right now. So, thanks for everything, all of you.
“I’m on the mend, I’m resting and sleeping loads and I feel really good. I’m just very lucky.”
Stars including presenter Alison Hammond, singer Craig David and radio host Zoe Ball quickly shared their delight at the positive update.
McCall rose to fame presenting on MTV in the mid-1990s, and later on Channel 4’s Streetmate, before becoming a household name as the host of Big Brother from 2000 to 2010.
McCall with her MBE, alongside her partner Michael Douglas and her daughter Holly Robertson. Pic: PA
She’s gone on to present programmes across the networks, the most recent being ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad.
Last year, McCall was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.
Married twice, McCall has three children, two daughters and a son, with her second husband, presenter Matthew Robertson.
She has lived with Douglas since 2022, and they present a weekly lifestyle podcast together, Making The Cut.
Barbara Taylor Bradford, the bestselling novelist who wrote A Woman Of Substance, has died at the age of 91.
The Leeds-born author, who sold more than 90 million books, died peacefully at her home on Sunday after a short illness and was “surrounded by loved ones to the very end”, a spokeswoman said.
Taylor Bradford, who was often labelled “the grand dame of blockbusters”, hit the big time when A Woman Of Substance was published in 1979, making her an overnight success.
The story sold millions of copies and traced the journey of Emma Harte from life as a servant in rural Yorkshire to heading a business empire.
The rags to riches story was followed by many other successful books with the author’s works being published in more than 40 languages across 90 countries.
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA
The author on her 21st birthday. Pic: Bradford Enterprises/PA
Charlie Redmayne, chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said the author was a “natural storyteller”, adding: “Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman Of Substance, changed the lives of so many who read it – and still does to this day.”
Taylor Bradford, who was made an OBE in 2007 for services to literature, wrote a total of 40 novels during her career – her most recent was The Wonder Of It All, published last year.
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA
Taylor Bradford with her husband Robert in 1993. Pic: PA
Born in May 1933 as the only child of Winston and Freda Taylor, she worked as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post before becoming a reporter and then the paper’s first woman’s editor.
At the age of 20, she moved to London and worked in Fleet Street for Woman’s Own and the London Evening News.
She met her husband, American film producer Robert Bradford, in 1961 and they married in London on Christmas Eve in 1963 before moving to New York the following year.
Read more on Sky News:
At least one dead after DHL cargo plane crashes
How long will unsettled weather last in the UK?
The couple were married for 55 years until he died from a stroke in 2019.
Following a private funeral in New York, the author will be buried alongside her late husband at the city’s Westchester Hills Cemetery.
Entertainment
Adele bids tearful farewell to Las Vegas residency as star admits she doesn’t know when she’ll perform next
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway