Communications of the ACM
AI Can Now Be Recognized as an Inventor
DABUS, an "artificial neural system," has led to a series of court battles across the world
Credit: Artificial Inventor Project
Australia's Federal Court has granted artificial intelligence (AI) systems legal recognition as inventors in patent applications, challenging the assumption that invention is a purely human act.
The decision recognizes DABUS (device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified sentience), an AI system whose creators have long argued can autonomously perform the "inventive step" required to qualify for a patent.
DABUS is a swarm of disconnected neutral networks that continuously generate "thought processes" and "memories" which independently produce new and inventive outputs.
It has "invented" a design for a container based on fractal geometry, and a "device and method for attracting enhanced attention" that makes light flicker in a pattern mimicking human neural activity. Although DABUS is listed as the inventor, its creator Stephen Thaler owns the patent, which means the push for the AI's inventor status is not an attempt to advocate for AI property rights.
From ABC (Australia)
Abstracts Copyright © 2021 SmithBucklin, Washington, DC, USA
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