AI-generated artworks have stepped into the spotlight, winning awards, entering top art institutions and fetching high prices at auctions. What was once controversial is now gaining wider acceptance, though debates persist.
Past Controversy Over AI Art
Three years ago, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial” sparked a huge debate. Created by game designer Jason Allen using Midjourney and polished with Photoshop, the work won first place in the digital art category at the Colorado State Fair in the U.S. Upon the result being announced, criticism flooded in. Many accused Allen of “passing AI’s output off as his own work” to compete. Allen, however, insisted he followed the rules and owed no apology, saying, “I won, and I didn’t break any rules.”
The jury also responded, stating that even if they had known Midjourney was an AI tool beforehand, they would still have awarded the first prize to this piece. They emphasized their focus was on the artwork itself, not the creation process. The controversy gained massive attention, with related topics on Weibo drawing over 100 million views. At that time, opinions on whether AI had “creative ability” were divided, with most opposing the idea.
Mainstream Art Institutions Embrace AI Art
In October 2023, New York’s MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), a world-leading modern art venue, announced it had added “Unsupervised” (from the Machine Hallucinations series), an AI data art work by Turkish artist Refik Anadol, to its permanent collection.
This large-scale immersive installation had been on display at MoMA for nearly a year before becoming the museum’s first permanently collected AI art piece. Other traditional art institutions have also increased their acceptance of AI art.
The Denver Art Museum has collected a short film made with generative AI, marking the first AI-created work in its permanent collection. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) recently received donations of multiple AI art works, and France’s Centre Pompidou has included some algorithm-generated crypto art pieces in its collection. These moves by major art museums signal that AI-generated works are gradually being recognized as “art” and moving out of the gray area of unregulated development to gain attention from authoritative art institutions.
Auction Market Recognizes AI Art
While entering art galleries and museums is a key step, works like “Unsupervised” still faced criticism, with some commentators dismissing them as “just a large screensaver wallpaper.”
Nevertheless, more art institutions have opened their doors to AI art as part of contemporary art innovation—especially as the auction market has followed suit. Earlier this year, Christie’s, one of the world’s top auction houses, held the first global auction dedicated to AI works. Featuring over 30 pieces from early computer art pioneers of the 1960s to contemporary AI artists, the auction achieved a total transaction value of approximately $729,000. Twenty-eight works were successfully sold, resulting in an 82% transaction rate.
The top-selling piece was a 2021 work by Refik Anadol, the same artist whose work was acquired by MoMA. Using over 1.2 million images from the International Space Station and satellites, the work reinterprets space imagery through artificial intelligence and sold for $277,200.
Another AI art work saw fierce competition at an auction, with 27 bids placed. It eventually sold for over $1 million, which Sotheby’s stated was the highest price ever achieved for a robotic artwork.
Ongoing Debates
For some creators, AI art is good news—they can create, gain recognition and sell at high prices. But traditional artists opposed it, arguing AI works come from algorithms, not “stroke-by-stroke” effort. They questioned if works like Unsupervised are “art” or “high-tech data visualization,” and wondered about the value of their own training and effort.
Enthusiasts and AI geeks see progress: art value has shifted from “creator’s hand” (skills, time, brushwork) to selection and curation. Artists now act as “editors,” picking AI-generated images that fit their ideas. Yet valuable AI art is not simple—past artists’ uniqueness came from decades of experience, while now, top AI works need sharp questions, unique concepts and distinctive perspectives. Future AI art’s competitiveness may lie in philosophical thinking, critical views and insight into human emotions—”human nature” machines can hardly imitate.
