Reframing the AI Debate Will Improve How We Practice Law

For the last several years, I’ve become obsessed with a particular legal, technological, and philosophical question: Can a robot invent on its own?
I’ve long agonized over this issue, following with bated breath the ins and outs of the quixotic global mission by computer scientist Stephen Thaler to secure patent rights for DABUS, the unique machine he developed that, he asserts, has invented a beverage container and an emergency beacon.
My quest led me to Thaler’s office in St. Charles, Missouri, where I encountered DABUS in the “flesh,” probed his claims, and reached my own conclusions about whether a machine can qualify as an inventor.
But along the way, I learned much broader lessons about artificial intelligence (AI), how our discourse about machines has gone awry, and how consulting traditional models can provide clarity — especially to thorny legal issues at the intersection of technology and IP law.