The series “Da Vinci Robot” was created in 2022—before ChatGPT, DALL·E, and Midjourney. In close collaboration with the software company Mathema Srl in Florence, Jonas Wyssen used a sophisticated machine learning algorithm to render real humanoid robots as AI self-portraits. In a sense, a machine is drawing a machine.
Through hundreds of trial-and-error iterations, the artist challenged the AI to decode the mystery of the Mona Lisa’s smile. Only the original idea of an AI self-portrait remained human. The result is a fascinatingly uncanny portrait that, through intense eye contact, creates a direct dialogue between human and machine.
The work reflects on questions of authorship, identity, and our relationship with intelligent technologies, linking Da Vinci’s legacy with a posthuman aesthetic.