Lawmakers are beginning to consider ways in which artificial intelligence systems are involved in inventive processes like discovery of new drugs, and how the use of such technologies affects what is, and is not, patentable.
The issue is fast becoming critical because U.S. law allows patents to be issued only to human inventors, whereas technologists and scientists are demonstrating that in some cases an artificial intelligence system is able to invent a new molecule or design a product that previously eluded humans.
“Make no mistake, AI presents novel questions across a wide range of areas of intellectual property policy,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, said at a recent hearing.
