The massive dataset of images that captured nature was used for developing an algorithm.

Rise of crypto tokens following the blockchain boom has not only led to memes and viral videos being auctioned for millions, but has also unlocked new avenues for artists to showcase their art for collectors in different parts of the world, through the virtual realm. Digital art has been explored in different forms, including interpretation of different sounds in the form of waves, which can later be scanned to reveal the tunes or audio messages embedded in them.

Last year an artist at Gitex in Dubai demonstrated his machine, which consisted of robotic arms and cameras, that could draw a picture from three different perspectives simultaneously, while a researcher in Saudi Arabia was able to develop AI that can tell how human beings will respond to a particular work of art. Now a collector has paid a whopping $1.2 million for an image which showcases the tremendous potential of machine learning, when it comes to interpreting the world around us through vivid visuals backed by an algorithm.

Created by Turkish artist Refik Anadol, the picture depicts colours as well as patterns which reflect the way a computer sees nature in the form of a dream, and is the product of 300 million photographs taken over a period of three years between 2018 and 2021. The visuals were used for developing an algorithm, which further fueled AI's vision that was translated to reality through Anadol's digital piece of art.

The artist's vision for showing the correlation between human beings, nature and tech, became a reality thanks to quantum computing unlocked by Google AI for Anadol, since it facilitated the processing of such a huge pile of visual data. The collector who won the bid for the painting which depicts a different facet of nature in each of its many variations via pigments, also got a 3D physical certificate signed by the artist himself.