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:
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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.
An emergency vote on Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest has been called off following developments in the Middle East, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said.
Contest organisers had scheduled “an extraordinary meeting of [its] general assembly to be held online” in early November after several countries said they would no longer take part in Eurovision if Israel participated.
The EBU said in a statement that following “recent developments in the Middle East” the executive board had agreed on Monday that there should be an in-person discussion among members “on the issue of participation in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026”.
It said the matter had now been added to the agenda of its winter general assembly, which will take place in December.
Further details about the session would be shared with EBU members in the coming weeks, it added.
It is not clear if a vote will still take place at a later date.
Austria is hosting next year’s show in Vienna. The country’s national broadcaster, ORF, told Reuters news agency it welcomed the EBU’s decision.
Sky News has contacted Israeli broadcaster KAN for comment.
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Will Eurovision boycott Israel?
Faced with controversy over the conflict in Gaza, Eurovision – which labels itself a non-political event – had said member countries would vote on whether Israel should or shouldn’t take part.
Slovenia and broadcasters from Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland and Iceland had all issued statements saying if Israel was allowed to enter, they’d consider boycotting the contest.
As one of the “Big Five” backers of Eurovision, Spain’s decision to leave the competition would have a significant financial impact on the event – which is the world’s largest live singing competition.
In September, a letter from EBU president Delphine Ernotte Cunci, said “given that the union has never faced a divisive situation like this before” the board agreed it “merited a broader democratic basis for a decision”.
Read more:
Why Eurovision vote on Israel might not stop boycott
Could Eurovision boycott lead to a competition crisis?
On Monday, Palestinian militant group Hamas freed the last living Israeli hostages from Gaza, and Israel released busloads of Palestinian detainees, under a ceasefire deal aimed at bringing an end to the two-year war in the Middle East.
The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation, with airstrikes and ground assaults devastating much of the enclave and killing more than 67,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants but it says around half of those killed were women and children.
Entertainment
Diane Keaton, star of Annie Hall and The Godfather, has died aged 79 – US media reports
Actress Diane Keaton, who starred in films including The Godfather and Annie Hall, has died, reports have said.
People reported her death at the age of 79, citing a family spokesperson.
The magazine said she died in California with loved ones but no other details were immediately available, and representatives for Keaton did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Associated Press news agency.
Keaton’s death was also reported by the New York Times newspaper which said it has spoken to Dori Roth, who produced a number of Keaton’s most recent films, who confirmed she had died but did not provide any details about the circumstances.
With a long career, across a series of movies that are regarded as some of the best ever made, Keaton was widely admired.
She was awarded an Oscar, a BAFTA and two Golden Globe Awards, and was also nominated for two Emmys, and a Tony, as well as picking up a series of other Academy Award and BAFTA nominations.
Diane Keaton, with her best actress Oscar for ‘Annie Hall’ in 1978. Pic: AP
Her best actress Oscar was for the Woody Allen film Annie Hall, which is said to be loosely based on her life.
She appeared in several other Allen projects, including Manhattan, as well as all three Godfather movies, in which she played Kay, the wife and then ex-wife of Marlon Brando’s son Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, opposite him as he descends into a life of crime and replaces his father in the family’s mafia empire.
‘Brilliant, beautiful’
The unexpected news was met with shock around the world.
Her First Wives Club co-star Bette Midler wrote on Instagram: “The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me.
“She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was … oh, la, lala!”
Actor Ben Stiller paid tribute on X, writing: “Diane Keaton. One of the greatest film actors ever. An icon of style, humor and comedy. Brilliant. What a person.”
Keaton was the kind of actor who helped make films iconic and timeless, from her “La-dee-da, la-dee-da” phrasing as Annie Hall, bedecked in the iconic necktie, bowler hat, vest and khakis, to her heartbreaking turn as Kay Adams, the woman unfortunate enough to join the Corleone family.
Keaton also frequently worked with Nancy Meyers, starting with 1987’s Baby Boom.
Their other films together included 1991’s Father of the Bride and its 1995 sequel, as well as 2003’s Something’s Gotta Give.
In 1996 she starred opposite Goldie Hawn and Midler in The First Wives Club, about three women whose husbands had left them for younger women.
More recently she collaborated with Jane Fonda, Mary Steenburgen and Candice Bergen on the Book Club films.
Keaton never married. She adopted a daughter, Dexter, in 1996 and a son, Duke, four years later.
Sky News has contacted Keaton’s agent for a comment.
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