Commentary: In two new court cases, judges find that AI does not have human intelligence
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It’s becoming clearer with every passing day that the only people making a serious effort to come to grips with the implications of artificial intelligence for society aren’t legislators, or business leaders, or AI promoters themselves.They’re judges.Indeed, in recent weeks, judges in two federal cases have drawn a line that seems to have eluded many others contemplating AI.
The cases relate to copyright law and attorney-client privilege.In both cases, the judges have effectively declared that AI bots are not human.
They don’t have rights reserved for people, and their outputs don’t deserve to be treated as though they come from human intelligence or have any special high-tech standing.Must invention remain exclusively human, or can autonomous computational systems genuinely originate ideas?— Artist and computer scientist Stephen ThalerThere’s more to those cases than that.Both cases, including one that got as far as the Supreme Court, underscore the determination of AI promoters and uses to infiltrate the new technology deeper into society.
Start with the more recent case.On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to take up a lawsuit in which artist and computer scientist Stephen Thaler tried to copyright an artwork that he acknowledged had been created by an AI bot of his own invention.
That left in place a ruling last year by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which held that art created by non-humans can’t be copyrighted.Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service and our Privacy Policy.
The case revolved around a 2012 painting titled “A Recent Entrance to Paradise,” depicting train tracks running under a bridge and disappearing into vegetation.Thaler wrote in his application for a copyright that the “author” of the work was his “Creativity Machine,” an AI tool, and that t...