Robot artist Ai-Da has been arrested on suspicion of espionage

The Egyptian authorities placed “in custody” for ten days British robot suspected of espionage. The robot Ai-Da, an abstract artist who paints abstract works, finally received permission to be transported to her pyramids Γκίζας, where he will participate in an exhibition of contemporary art.

Customs authorities have estimated that the robot’s cameras and modem may have been spy devices, according to an English newspaper article. «The Guardian». In a statement to the British television network, BBC, the Piembassies of the United Kingdom in the Cairo, welcomed her release Ai-Da from customs. “Customs control procedures are often time consuming, but are required before the importation of works of art or electronic equipment,” he said.

THE Ai-Da, christened in honor of the 19th century British mathematician Anta Lovelace, is a creation of the gallery owner ΕιDan Meller and engineers from University of Oxford.

THE Meller offered to remove the robot modem to speed up the process at customs. But she refused to remove the cameras from her eyes. H Ai-Da uses the cameras to examine her subject before painting it with her robotic arm, which is controlled by an artificial intelligence algorithm. Her works have been presented at Design Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum of London.

The robot was airlifted to Cairo packed in special boxes in order to participate in the exhibition «Forever is Now» which takes place next to the pyramids of Giza until November 7 and according to them «The Times» is “the first exhibition of contemporary art next to the pyramids in 4,500 years”. THE Meller stated that due to the delay at customs it will be difficult to prepare the Ai-Da for its presentation next Thursday, while expressing its fear that some damage has been caused to the robot while it was in custody.