Could an art dealer use artificial intelligence to duplicate themselves and multiply their business, in the mould of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg? Could a curator build a team of nine virtual agents to mount an exhibition? These were among the ideas floated recently in The Academy’s “AI in the Art Market” course, an online event organised by Art Market Minds.
For an industry behind the curve in terms of technology, such possibilities remain far-fetched. Many artists, though, are already on board. These include Rachel Maclean, who represented Scotland at the Venice Biennale in 2017, and has since developed AI models trained on her image and artistic style. Having another version of herself “has been a creative collaboration, like working with another artist”, says her representing gallerist, Josh Lilley, who will be showing her eerie fantasy film “They’ve Got Your Eyes” in a solo show in London from June 4.