The intersection of artificial intelligence and the art world is a topic of intense debate. Is AI set to revolutionise the industry, or does it pose a threat to human creativity? As part of our Luxury Insights Report on Art, AI, and the Future of Creativity, we continue to explore how leading players are harnessing AI to enhance, not replace, traditional expertise.
In this latest expert insight from the report, Adar Glusman, CEO of Artbrain, shares her thoughts on how AI is transforming the auction industry. Artbrain’s AI technology personalises auction house marketing, optimises customer engagement, and improves business efficiency, demonstrating how AI can complement human decision-making. From overcoming early scepticism to integrating GenAI into traditional auction processes, Adar highlights the opportunities and challenges AI presents - and why those who embrace it will gain a competitive edge.
Artbrain is an AI technology designed specifically for auction houses. Our AI engine predicts the likelihood of a customer bidding on an item based on their bidding history and preferences. This technology enables users to automatically recommend items most relevant to each customer. Today, personalisation is essential. Traditionally, auction houses reached out to select customers manually, lacking automation and scalability. As a result, only a small portion of the client base received tailored communications, while the majority were left with generic messages, potentially missing ideal opportunities.
At the start of our journey, we faced significant pushback from auction houses due to the perceived complexity of AI. Many feared the system would make decisions beyond human control, particularly in fields where expertise is highly valued. Over the first three years, intensive market education was required. We positioned AI as a tool to augment human skills rather than replace them, using case studies to showcase improved efficiency, enhanced customer service, and revenue growth -emphasising that our AI is built on industry-specific data.
By the end of 2023, fear of AI had diminished, and auction houses actively sought to integrate it into their marketing, operations, and inventory management systems to drive revenue and efficiency.
Before using Artbrain, an auction house might send a generic email to 5,000 customers per department, requiring each customer to search manually for items of interest. With Artbrain, one template can generate 5,000 unique, tailored emails based on AI analysis of bidding behaviour. Artbrain also enables dynamic customer segmentation, improving engagement and meeting customer needs. It generates detailed post-auction reports automatically, saving time and providing insights to enhance future auction performance.
Typically, about 20% of an auction house’s inventory consists of high-value lots, with the remaining 80% being mid- to low-priced. Our goal is to help auction houses focus 80% of their efforts on promoting top-tier items while streamlining the promotion of lower-priced ones. Artbrain achieves this by analysing customer data to identify those most likely to bid on high-value items, maximising the potential of top bidders with detailed profiles, and tailoring bulk email campaigns to match buyer preferences.
Artbrain also considers price points, aligning recommendations with a buyer’s past bidding activity to ensure relevance. By building highly targeted recipient lists, Artbrain enhances engagement and improves the overall customer experience.
Auction houses using Artbrain have seen the reactivation of inactive customers, improved sell-through rates, and an increase in bidders per lot. Collectors benefit from a more streamlined, personalised experience. Our AI technology, developed and continuously refined in-house, supports various domains, including trading cards, jewellery, and philately. The algorithm constantly learns and adapts to collectors' evolving preferences.
In recent years, GenAI technologies have made AI more accessible to both tech-savvy and non-technical users. However, the auction industry still faces barriers such as lack of awareness, infrastructure challenges, and cultural resistance. To address these, we are incorporating GenAI capabilities into our product to fit traditional auction processes.
By integrating AI, auction houses can enhance efficiency, expand their reach, and improve buyer and consignment quality. As the industry evolves, those that fail to adopt these technologies risk falling behind, missing out on opportunities to maximise their potential. Artbrain is a vital tool for auction houses looking to stay competitive in a technology-driven market that increasingly demands personalisation, efficiency, and revenue growth.
