German artist Mario Klingemann set out to create his newest project Botto to answer a simple question: “Can a machine be an artist?”
Having a computer spit out images isn’t new anymore, thanks to generative AI models like Stable Diffusion and DALL-E. New programs from Runway, OpenAI, Tencent and Kuaishou can now generate whole video from a text prompt.
But Klingemann, who spoke at Fortune’s Brainstorm Design event in Macau on Dec. 5, designed Botto to do more than just generate art, bringing in insights from the blockchain and crypto space to create an “inverse cyborg,” or a “machine augmented by humans.”
In the artist’s words, “Botto is a machine that produces images and tries to sell them—and by selling them, it makes money that keeps it alive.”
Users can stake funds into a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO, an organization that governs itself through smart contracts.
Anyone who visits the Botto website, whether or not they have funds invested, can then vote on its images. These votes then train the Botto algorithm to produce images that are better suited to the tastes of its audience, which Klingemann admits might lead to an inner conflict among voters: “Do you vote by your personal taste, or do you vote because you think this will sell?”
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Botto then sells the artwork that garners the most votes via an auction. Proceeds are then split among members of the DAO, according to how much they’ve staked in the organization.
Klingemann hoped that Botto could end up becoming “a truly immortal artist,” something he admitted might not be wholly a good thing. “If you look at the art market, at least for the heirs, it’s more beneficial if the art at some point leaves!,” he joked.
On Dec. 5, Fortune held its Brainstorm Design conference at the MGM Cotai in Macau, where panelists and attendees debated “Experiments in Experience”: designs that blur the line between the physical and digital worlds to captivate users and foster lasting connections. Catch up with what speakers shared onstage, and follow all our design coverage here.