“First” Things Made by AI

A deliberately wide and permissive catalog of works and events that have been claimed to be “the first” AI-generated / AI-authored / AI-made (in some sense). Multiple competing “firsts” are included whenever different criteria were used.

Literature (books, poetry, novels, experiments)

• “The First Book Ever Written by a Computer” (marketing claim): The Policeman’s Beard Is Half Constructed (1984), generated by Racter.
  Archive.org (scan) Wikipedia
• “A book written by a computer” (publisher claim): True Love / True Love.wrt (2008), associated with Alexander Prokopovich (Russia).
  CCCB press PDF (mentions the claim) ELMCIP paper PDF (mentions True Love)
• Mass-scale “computer-generated books on Amazon” (early 2010s attention): Philip M. Parker (INSEAD) and large catalogs of algorithmically-produced books (notably via ICON Group / related entities).
  Singularity Hub (2012) New Atlas (2012) Writer Beware (2009) YouTube: kcUUzuEHxUE
  Included here because these projects were frequently discussed online as early examples of “machine-written books” at web scale.
• “The first real book written by an AI” (product-page claim): 1 the Road (2018), Ross Goodwin.
  Notable for its “road + sensors” setup (e.g., GPS, camera, microphone) and live generation while traveling.
  Amazon (UK) product page (claim) Publisher / store page Wikipedia
• “First poetry book written by an AI” (publisher / press claim): Xiaoice (Microsoft) poetry collection (2017).
  Microsoft Research — Xiaoice Reuters coverage
• AI-written story passing a round of a literary prize (widely reported “first” milestone): The Day a Computer Writes a Novel (2016), Hoshi Shinichi Literary Award (Japan).
  The Guardian

Theater & scriptwriting

• Film produced from an AI-written screenplay (often cited as an early first): Sunspring (2016), script credited to an AI (“Benjamin”).
  Wikipedia Film (YouTube)
• AI-written play staged as a full production (often described as a first): AI: When a Robot Writes a Play (premiered 2021, Prague / Švanda Theatre).
  Theatre page Wikipedia

Comics, graphic novels, manga

• “First graphic novel entirely generated by AI” (project claim): AI Comics (Helsinki, 2019).
  University of Helsinki
• “First-ever comic book series with art created using AI” (publisher/creator claim): The Bestiary Chronicles (2022).
  Official site
• “Japan’s first fully AI-drawn manga” (press framing): Cyberpunk: Peach John (2023).
  Taipei Times / AFP RFI (English)
  

Visual art (images, painting, auctions)

• “First AI portrait sold at auction” (auction-house framing): Portrait of Edmond de Belamy (2018), sold at Christie’s.
  Christie’s lot page Wikipedia
• AI image winning a public art competition (often cited as a first): Théâtre D’opéra Spatial (Colorado State Fair, 2022).
  Wikipedia

Photography

• AI-generated image winning a major photography award (and then refused): Boris Eldagsen, Sony World Photography Awards (2023).
  SWPA statement The Guardian

Film, TV, streaming

• Feature film promoted as “written by AI”: The Last Screenwriter (2024).
  IMDb (FR)
• Always-on “AI-generated sitcom” stream (widely described as a first-of-its-kind phenomenon): Nothing, Forever (aka “AI Seinfeld”), streamed on Twitch (channel: WatchMeForever).
  Twitch channel Wikipedia

Music (including streaming “AI bands”)

Flow Machines (Sony CSL)

• Pop songs / albums marketed around AI composition: Flow Machines (Sony CSL) and the AI-pop demonstrations, culminating in the Hello World album (SKYGGE / Benoît Carré).
  Flow Machines (project page) Sony CSL (2016 article)

• Early “computer-composed” music (often cited as a first): Illiac Suite (1957).
  Wikipedia
• Always-on AI music livestreams / “AI bands” (claims around longevity and “firsts”): Dadabots (notably the 24/7 stream Relentless Doppelganger).
  Dadabots — music / streams ITU AI for Good (mentions “possibly the longest continuous 24/7” stream)

Journalism & news automation

• Major newsroom automation adoption (often framed as a milestone first): Associated Press automating corporate earnings stories at scale (2014).
  AP announcement (earnings stories) AP update (automation expanded)
• A “first French daily newspaper generated at >70% by AI” (unverified pointer): “Le Télégramme de Brest”.
  Included as a placeholder because it was mentioned as a remembered claim, but a reliable source link is not yet attached here.

Law & patents

• First patent granted naming an AI as the inventor (widely reported claim): DABUS patent granted in South Africa (2021).
  Managing IP (2021) IPWatchdog (2021)

Electronic literature & early “generated text” artifacts

• “First books on floppy disks” (claimed in a curated exhibition text): Jean-Pierre Balpe and early automatic text generators distributed as floppy-disk “books”.
  Electronic Literature Organization (exhibition) ELO news (2025)

• This page itself (this exact HTML document).
  Criterion: first known instance of this specific compiled page.
• A running “claims feed” (resource): a public account that collects “first AI X” posts.
  x.com/firstai5 Use as a pointer to more (often messy) “first” claims.