Nearly 4,000 artists have signed an open letter demanding that Christie’s cancel its upcoming “Augmented Intelligence” auction, set to run from February 20 to March 5. Billed as the first-ever AI-dedicated sale at a major auction house, the event has sparked backlash over concerns that AI models exploit human artists’ work without consent.
The letter, signed by artists including Kelly McKernan and Karla Ortiz, argues that many AI-generated artworks rely on models trained using copyrighted material without proper licensing. McKernan and Ortiz are already involved in lawsuits against AI companies for allegedly using their work without permission.
The auction will feature 20 lots spanning five decades, including NFTs, sculptures, paintings, works on paper, and light boxes, with estimates ranging from $15,000 to $250,000. Among the featured artists are Refik Anadol, Harold Cohen, Pindar Van Arman, and Holly Herndon, with Christie’s expecting to generate at least $600,000 from the sale.
The letter states:
“Many of the artworks you plan to auction were created using AI models that are known to be trained on copyrighted work without a license… These models, and the companies behind them, exploit human artists, using their work without permission or payment to build commercial AI products that compete with them.”
It concludes with a direct appeal:
“Your support of these models, and the people who use them, rewards and further incentivizes AI companies’ mass theft of human artists’ work. We ask that, if you have any respect for human artists, you cancel the auction.”
In response, Christie’s defended its position, stating that the artists in the sale have established, multidisciplinary careers and that the auction aims to showcase how AI “enhances creativity rather than replaces it.”
Nicole Sales Giles, Christie’s vice president and director of digital art sales, emphasized that the auction demonstrates human-AI collaboration:
“You can see a lot of human agency in all of these works… In every single piece, AI is used as a tool rather than a substitute for human creativity.”
One of the auction’s standout pieces is a 12-foot-tall AI-powered painting robot by Alexander Reben, which will create a new section of its canvas live every time a bid is placed.
Meanwhile, artist Refik Anadol dismissed the open letter as “funny,” calling it “the result of lazy criticism and doomsday hysteria.”
As the controversy grows, the debate over AI’s role in art—and its ethical implications—continues to intensify.
