MoMA acquires two AI-generated artworks for permanent collection

The Museum of Modern Art in New York has acquired two AI-generated artworks for its permanent collection, marking a milestone in the institutional recognition of artificial intelligence in art. The works are by Refik Anadol and Ian Cheng. Anadol's "Unsupervised — Machine Hallucinations — MoMA" is a 10x10 meter screen displaying three digital pieces that use a machine learning model trained on the museum's archive to reinterpret 200 years of art. It was donated by entrepreneur Ryan Zurrer and was on view at MoMA through October 29, 2023. Cheng's "3FACE" was acquired with support from Outland Art, a platform for digital technologies. The work analyzes blockchain wallet transactions to generate a visual portrait, adapting via AI. This is not MoMA's first generative work by Cheng; in 2016, it acquired his "Emissaries" trilogy. The acquisitions come amid ongoing debate about AI art's originality and copyright protection, following a Washington court ruling that AI-generated art is not protected by copyright. Other recent AI art milestones include the Denver Art Museum's exhibition of "Us" by Jennifer Foerster and Steve Yazzie, and the opening of Dead End Gallery in Amsterdam, the first gallery dedicated solely to AI art.