Could all creative content be generated by AI? In an age where complex artificial intelligence computing is fast becoming a reality, will all creative content be generated with little to no human intervention? Will all content then be infringing?
One company already claims it owns the rights to all text of up to 400 words in English, German, and Spanish. Qentis corporation claims that it is “the largest copy-generating and brokering corporation in the world today”, it also claims that it “owns the copyright to 97% of all text ever produced by men.”[1]
Is this possible, can companies attempt to create all possible permutations of content with AI? In the recent past, no, using brute force computing even with the most powerful computers, most of the content that would be produced would be nonsensical. But, as AI algorithms advance, it is becoming more of a reality everyday.
Last year, more than a billion short news stories were written by AI.[2] News stories are one thing, but AI can’t do complex tasks based on emotions like painting or writing a symphony right?
Wrong!
The painting fool[3] is an AI program specifically designed to address “philosophical notions such as emotion and intentionality”. It recently painted the images of more than 100 visitors at the Galerie Oberkampf in Paris where it was on exhibit.
And music, well you haven’t met Lamus yet.[4] Lamus can compose a full symphony in just 8 minutes. If you are skeptical, you can watch the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra perform Iamus' Adsum[5] one of Lamus’ acclaimed compositions.
Content creation, in the realm of text, art, and music are one thing, inventing something in a highly technical field like semiconductors is another, surely AI can’t do that.
It already has!
In US6847851 B1 Apparatus for improved general-purpose PID and non-PID controllers[6] the inventors didn’t choose any specific elements in the circuits or the layout, they programmed the possible parameters and chose one of the permutations generated by the program.
It certainly does seem that a vast amount of creative content is being generated by AI, and the rate at which it is being created is increasing, requiring little to no human intervention. What that means for infringement is a complex question probably best dealt with on a case-by-case basis. One thing is certain, current laws were not written for the unprecedented pace and scale of content generated by AI.
A recent article in Stanford Technical Law Review presents a more in-depth analysis on the ramifications of AI on copyright and patent laws. The article titled “Patents in an era of infinite monkeys and artificial intelligence”[7] presents some very interesting and compelling arguments.[8]
[1] www.qentis.com
[2] http://www.poynter.org/news/media-innovation/244113/robot-to-write-1-million-stories-in-2014-but-will-you-know-it-when-you-see-it/
[3] http://www.thepaintingfool.com/index.html
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iamus_(computer)
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzrcoqpnZqA
[6] US6847851 B1
[7] https://journals.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/stanford-technology-law-review/print/2015/10/hattenbach_and_glucoft-final.pdf
[8] 19 STAN. TECH. L. REV. 32 (2015)