Artificial Intelligence: Redefining Intellectual Property Frameworks and Ethical Boundaries in an Era of Innovation

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across diverse sectors, fromcreative industries to employment, raises questions about whether our currentintellectual property (IP) laws can govern and regulate AI-generated content.Copyright and patent law are two IP law frameworks designed to protect creativeworks and inventions made by humans. As AI is being used to create new worksand inventions, the IP law framework faces challenges in ownership andeligibility for legal protection. In Thaler v Hirshfeld (2021), the court ruled thatAI cannot be recognized as an inventor under the Patent Act. This decisionhighlights the hesitation to protect AI-generated works and the rigidity in ourhuman-based IP law frameworks. From hiring decisions to pornographic imagemanipulation, AI also poses ethical and privacy concerns. The use of AI inalgorithmic decision-making systems and deepfakes exposes how thesetechnologies can be used to discriminate against or manipulate individuals. Whilelaws have been introduced to protect individuals against AI-based discriminationand deepfakes, there is still a need for cohesive federal law to safeguard peoplefrom systematic bias and those who employ AI to cause harm.