Botto, a decentralized semi-autonomous artistic agent, has been making waves in the art world since its creation in 2021 by German artist Mario Klingemann, media entrepreneur Simon Hudson, and computer scientist and designer Ziv Epstein. This AI image generator, similar to Dall-E and Midjourney, has already made over $4 million in sales and was recently exhibited at Sotheby’s in New York, where it raked in $350,000. What sets Botto apart is its “taste model” that selects the most pleasing images generated by a prompt, which is tuned to reflect the preferences of a community of Botto enthusiasts. This community also has the power to influence how Botto is managed and developed through a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The creators of Botto hope that through interactions with the community and various channels of input, it will develop a personality and interests that may even steer the art it creates. However, there are ethical concerns surrounding the use of AI in art, particularly in regards to copyright infringement. Despite this, Botto remains an intriguing exploration of the potential of AI in the realm of artistic expression.
