Ai-Da, the artist robot, speaking at the House of Lords on 11 October 2022, was on one level an intriguing Dada moment—but, like the most powerful Dada art actions, it remains only so noticeable because it touched on something deeply worrying.

Ai-Da and the wider field of artificial intelligence (AI) art has proven controversial and unsettling for many in the art world, which is understandable given that art is considered one of the last “human” spheres of activity. Although computer and digital art have been around for decades, there is something about the term “artificial intelligence” that has created consternation and anxiety not seen previously.

Perhaps this is because some of the changes predicted in the past are now being brought further into the foreground, as the computing and biotechnological revolutions combine, and the potentials of the gene-editing tool CRISPR unfold. In a sense, the controversy of bringing AI into art reflects the very real concerns over bringing these new technologies into society. And there is every reason to be concerned, given the power of the new technologies, and the unlikely prospect of humanity being able to manage that power with much grace. Ai-Da is within and alongside a long tradition of artists addressing troubling issues.

Ai-Da tackles the most problematic issue of our future in a very direct way—almost becoming a “Beuysian” social sculpture. Through her machine-humanoid persona, she brings into the visual arts a reflection on Yuval Noah Harari’s insights on biotechnology and CRISPR, which have such enormous ramifications that none of us can really afford to ignore them. She is a machine, but her ultra-realistic features make her look like she’s alive, and thus she evokes the biotechnological re-engineering and Promethean activities that humans seem irresistibly drawn towards, despite the very real alarm bells rung by scientists on the inside of these developments.

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