40萬美元落槌
For the very first time, a painting created by artificial intelligence has been sold, and for a whopping $432,500 at an auction in New York City.
史上頭一遭，由人工智慧（AI）創作的畫在紐約市一場拍賣會上，以高達43萬2千5百美元高價售出。
whopping(adj.)極大的auction(n.)拍賣會
The AI-generated “Portrait of Edmond Belamy” depicts a man with a blurry face, wearing a dark frock coat with a white collar, and in the lower right corner, a mathematical algorithm as the “signature” of the painting.
AI生成的「貝拉米肖像畫」描繪了一位臉部模糊的男子，身穿有白色衣領的黑色長外套，右下方角落的演算法公式是這幅畫的「簽名」。
generate(v.)產生;生成depict(v.)描繪algorithm(n.)演算法、計算程式
Christie’s, the auction house that has sold paintings by Picasso and Monet at record prices, offered the portrait for sale from Oct. 23 to 25.
曾以破紀錄的價格售出畢加索和莫內畫作的佳士得拍賣行，於10月23日至25日拍賣這幅畫，
auction house拍賣行portrait(n.)肖像、畫像
The AI-created portrait was originally expected to fetch between $7,000 and $10,000. In the end, it was sold at a price nearly 45 times higher than its upper estimate.
原估售價在7千美元到1萬美元之間，最終賣出的價格卻比其上限高出近45倍。
fetch(v.)售得、賣得=sell for~estimate(v.)估計;估價(n.)估價
“Portrait of Edmond Belamy” is the product of the Paris art collective Obvious.
「貝拉米肖像畫」是巴黎藝術團體Obvious的心血結晶，
The collective used a type of AI called generative adversarial network (GAN) and “fed the system with a data set of 15,000 portraits painted between the 14th and the 20th centuries,” explained one of the researchers at Obvious.
該藝術團體使用一種名為「生成對抗網路」（GAN）的AI，將14世紀到20世紀1萬5000幅肖像畫的資料輸入系統，創作出這幅畫作，Obvious的研究者解釋道。
generative adversarial network (GAN)生成對抗網路feed-fed-fed 餵食;輸入
The painting looks as if it could have been a portrait of a European nobleman, but it has sparked debates about the value of computer-generated art and whether it should be considered “real art”.
這幅畫看起來就好像一位歐洲貴族的肖像，但也引發了關於電腦生成藝術的價值的爭論，以及它是否應該被視為「真正的藝術」。
as if…似乎;好像could have V-pp 可能是…(與過去事實相反的假設)spark(v.)激起;引發=trigger
Richard Lloyd, the international head of Christie’s print department, believes there’s a huge market for AI-built artwork — as proven by the amount of money spent by Edmund’s buyer, who remains anonymous.
佳士得版畫部國際負責人理查德勞埃德認為，人工智慧創造的藝術品市場很大，「貝拉米肖像畫」的匿名買家願意砸下重金買下這幅畫適足以說明這一點。
as proven by~如同…所證明的=as demonstrated by…anonymous(adj.)匿名的=unnamed=nameless
“It is a portrait, after all,” says Lloyd, who was in charge of the sale. “It may not have been painted by a man in a powdered wig, but it is exactly the kind of artwork that we have been selling for 250 years.”
負責此次拍賣的勞埃德說，畢竟，這是一幅肖像，它可能不是由戴著撲粉假髮的畫家畫的，但它正是我們250年來銷售的那種藝術品。
in charge of~負責;掌管=be responsible for~=managing=runningpowdered wig撲粉假髮