Video of AI robot carving marble statues leaves internet depressed: ‘The robots sculpt and paint while we toil’

The Studio Ghibli trend took over the internet with mixed reactions ranging from people flooding the internet with their AI-version pictures to Hayao Miyazaki fans calling it a disrespect to the artist's work. Now, a video of AI-powered robots carving marble sculptures has left the internet in shock.

On March 21, Monumental Labs shared a video of an AI-powered robot carving a Renaissance-style marble sculpture with cutting-edge technology. Their Instagram page has shared several other clips of AI robots working on marble sculptures. Soon, the video went viral, garnering criticism from the internet, including art enthusiasts, calling it a murder of the art community and artistic realm.

AI-powered robot creates a marble sculpture

The video shared by Monumental Labs shows an AI Robot working on a Renaissance-style marble statue of a man. The machine can be seen carving the model and spraying it with water to fine-tune the marble. Per the Instagram page, the sculpture is called ‘St. Joseph’.

How did the internet react?

The internet expressed their anger in the comments. One user wrote, “Ah, so now AI makes sculptures too. What a time to be alive. The tech world must be over the moon. Finally, their beloved machines can “create art”. Such joy. Such innovation. Truly, who needs a soul when you’ve got code? But sure, let’s pretend a robot can sculpt what Michelangelo saw in that one tense muscle in Moses’ forearm. Let’s pretend it understands what Da Vinci hid behind Mona Lisa’s smile. Or that it dreams like Van Gogh did. Or drips surrealism the way Dali did, long before Dali became a prompt and not a painter.”

Another user wrote, “Then I should be able to buy it for ten bucks.” A comment read, “The robots paint and sculpt while we toil and labour. This is wrong.” Another said, “Can we make AI do something like dishes and find cures for diseases and clean trash rather than sculpt and sing and paint? Which were all things that PEOPLE decided to do for pure HAPPINESS?” A user wrote, “The value is in the soul. The moment machine archives it, we are doomed.”

What Monumental Labs said

After the immense criticism from the internet, Monumental Labs posted a video of two sculptors working on the marble statue with a sarcastic caption. “'This RoBot is NOT Michelangelo!' No Kidding! On this statue of St. Joseph, the robot simply roughed out the basic shape. Now, our carvers will spend months using traditional carving tools to realize the final form. Our fabrication methods lower costs significantly, expanding the market for sculpture and creating new opportunities for skilled craftsmen,” they wrote.

However, netizens felt differently, even after their attempt at explanation. A netizen wrote, “The final touch requires human hands.” Another user pointed out that even if it is made by machine, we need sculptors at the end of the day, and AI can't replace art.