Imagine you find yourself in the narrow streets of Montmartre, in front of you there is no longer any trace of the traditional (and somewhat petulant) portraitists. Their place was taken by a series of mechanical arms that continue to move with unremitting diligence. A futuristic scenario and remotely? In fact, just for nothing, to be convinced just take a look at the project Autoportrait developed by Robotlab, a trio of Germans on behalf of the ZKM – Center of Art and Media in Karlsruhe. It is in practice of a real robot, a mechanical arm that, pencil in hand, outlines admirably portraits. The operation of the prototype is quite simple: a camera placed on the head of the mechanical arm captures the facial features of the models that are made to sit on a chair, placed right in front of our "artist". Once the data stored, the robot begins to draw the face of the model, with the same quick strokes of a consummate portraitist. Autoportrait The goal of the experiment is to reduce the gap between humans and robots, favoring the encounter and interaction in public spaces. The robots are continuing to be confined to € šinterno to an industry that, far from our reach, with the result that the perception that we find hard to escape from the imagination that literature and cinema have built around. But the experiment Robotlab is also interesting because it encourages us to reflect on the aesthetic potential of the machines. And 'in fact legitimate to ask whether (after having taken possession of artistic techniques that until recently were within the exclusive domain of man) machines will also be able to develop their own autonomous aesthetic instances.