Emerging digital art: Technology-driven art is dominating the market

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  Quantumrun Foresight
• November 8, 2022

Insight summary

While art is considered subjective, many can’t deny that it is being transformed by technology. Blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and virtual and augmented realities (AR/VR) are changing how people view, trade, and appreciate artworks. The long-term implication of this trend includes cryptocurrencies that focus on digital art transactions and ethical debates on technology-assisted art.

Emerging digital art context

Metakovan, a pseudonym, paid $69 million USD for a digital artwork called “Everydays - The First 5,000 Days” in March 2021. Metakovan partially paid for the non-fungible token (NFT) with Ether, a cryptocurrency. This significant acquisition was driven by the rise of digital currencies in the market and developments in blockchain technology. As a result, collectors, artists, and investors suddenly became aware of the potentially lucrative demand for unique digital art. Even traditional art dealers, like Christie’s and Sotheby’s, started to accept digital art. Non-fungible tokens have become one of the most expensive digital assets because of their unique characteristics, including cryptography, game theory, and art collection. These features create originality and value for investors.

Non-fungible tokens are simply one form of emerging art fuelled by technology. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, museums shut down, and artists lost business opportunities. In contrast, the potential of online art experiences soared. Museums created high-resolution representations of their artwork and uploaded them online. Google curated some of the most iconic art pieces from global museums and made them available on the Internet.

Meanwhile, deep learning algorithms enabled AI to create original art by recognizing different images and their related themes. However, AI-generated images were placed in the spotlight when an AI-created artwork was secretly entered into the 2022 Colorado State Fair’s fine arts competition and won. While critics insisted that the AI-created artwork should have been disqualified, judges stood by their decision and welcomed the discussion that the event generated.

Disruptive impact

Emerging digital art will likely continue to push boundaries of what is perceived as art. In 2020, the world’s first virtual art museum opened. The Virtual Online Museum of Art (VOMA) is not just an online gallery; it has a virtual environment—from paintings to the computer-generated building on the lakeside. The Virtual Online Museum of Art is the brainchild of British artist Stuart Semple who wanted to create a truly interactive online museum.

While the Google museum project was good, Semple said the experience wasn’t immersive enough. To explore the VOMA, viewers first need to install the free program onto their computers. With the program installed, they can access two galleries full of artworks from multiple artists, including Henri Matisse, Édouard Manet, Li Wei, Jasper Johns, and Paula Rego. 

Lee Cavaliere, the museum’s director and curator, coordinated with some of the most iconic museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Using high-res images provided by each institution, VOMA made 3-D reproductions of famed pieces from across the globe. The result is photos that can be viewed and zoomed at any angle. 

Meanwhile, AI robot artists are receiving more recognition. In 2022, the famous AI humanoid robot artist Ai-Da conducted its first gallery show in Venice. Ai-Da uses its robotic arm to make drawings, paintings, and sculptures. It is also a performance artist and interacts with viewers. Its creator, Aidan Meller, considers Ai-Da an artist in its own right and a work of conceptual art.

Implications of emerging digital art

Wider implications of emerging digital art may include: 

• Rising concerns about the impact of digital storage for NFTs and digital artwork and its implication on the environment. 


• An increasing number of digital art cryptocurrency exchanges that focus on trading NFTs and memes.


• More artists converting their artwork into NFTs. This trend may potentially make digital art more expensive and valuable than physical artwork.


• Critics insisting that digital art should have separate categories and policies regarding art competitions. These demands reflect the growing concern about how NFTs may overshadow physical art.


• More traditional artists preferring to re-train to create digital art instead, transforming traditional art into a niche industry.


• Increasing concerns over improving computer vision, image recognition, and text-to-image AI technologies potentially making graphic designers and artists obsolete.

Questions to consider

• How might art insurance transform to protect digital artwork and museums?


• How else may technology influence how people create and appreciate art?