The contingencies of copyright and some big questions of our time

Abstract At the heart of the copyright debate in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI) lies a nagging question: will authorship remain the preserve of human creativity, or are we witnessing the emergence of a new, hybrid model of intellectual production that blurs the lines between human creativity and machine? My intention is by no means to offer a definitive answer but rather to unpack the complexity of this question. By examining past and recent legal cases through a philosophical lens, I explore some of the key conceptual transformations that copyright has undergone in the late modern era, shifting from an anthropocentric logic to new environmental dynamics of networked technology. Whether or not we are prepared to sacrifice our Promethean spark of creation—one of the key features that define us as human beings—the implications go far beyond copyright itself; they speak to the very core of what it means to write, read, create, and ultimately, to be human.