Creator of Historic $69 Million Artwork Warns Against Relying on AI to Resolve NFT Selloff
According to artist Beeple, the combination of artificial intelligence and nonfungible tokens does not offer a straightforward solution to the decline in the digital collectibles market.
Proponents of AI-generated art argue that it offers a new type of interactive creativity that can be linked to NFTs, potentially rekindling interest in that marketplace, which has seen activity decline since its 2022 peak.
But Michael Winkelmann, better known as Beeple and known for his Everydays NFT artwork that paid $69.3 million in 2021, said on Bloomberg Television that “AI is not a quick fix that will add value to NFTs.”
“This is a tool that everybody has now,” he told Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow. “If it’s something that you can easily AI and manufacture, it probably won’t have lasting value because anyone could do it. You really still have to have something that’s a really new, innovative idea.”
The boom in crypto and NFT prices during the pandemic era has given way to a prolonged downturn, raising doubts about whether the market will ever be able to reach the dizzying levels it once reached. For example, the Bitwise Blue-Chip NFT Collections index has fallen more than 80% from its peak level about 15 months ago.
While “everything is down” and the speculators are gone, the idea of owning digital things is still a fairly new concept, Winkelmann said.
“There are a lot of people who use this new medium to do innovative things and stick with it,” he said. “It’s still growing and finding an audience that this resonates with.”
