Ai-Da's head. Source: Mathew Stock/ReutersA team from U.K.-based company Engineered Arts is developing a robot that will be capable of drawing portraits.

Taking inspiration from British mathematician and computer algorithm inventor Ada Lovelace, the team has named the drawing robot Ai-Da. Built in collaboration with British gallery owner Aidan Meller, the team has already created a head that resembles a human head and have placed cameras in both eye sockets of the robot. The cameras enable the robot to translate and reproduce what it sees and the head will be placed atop a humanoid body that Engineered Arts calls a RoboThespian. Goldsmith’s, the AI leg of the University of London, has been tasked with designing Ai-Da’s drawing arm. Finishing touches will also be added to Ai-Da’s final design including long, dark hair, 3D-printed teeth and gums and silicone skin.

Once completed, the team believes Ai-Da will be able to draw portraits of people by sight.

“There’s AI running in the computer vision that allows the robot to track faces to recognize facial features and to mimic your expression,” said Marcus Hold, a design and production engineer at Engineered Arts.

Portraits drawn by Ai-Da will be on display at the University of Oxford sometime in May in an exhibit called “Unsecured Futures.”

While assurances have mostly been that AI and automation will not likely interfere with jobs in the creative fields as largely feared in other industries, this is not the first instance where AI has been used to create artwork. During the fall of 2018, Christie’s auction house in New York City sold the Portrait of Edmond, a work produced using artificial intelligence, for $432,000.