In the future, patent laws may need to be rewritten to accommodate artificial intelligence. Dr Stephen Thaler, with his AI system Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience (Dabus), and Ryan Abbott have challenged the patent laws of several governments, like the US and the UK, by filing patents crediting Dabus as the sole inventor of two devices. They’re not advocating for AI to be granted patents, but instead for the AI’s owners to be recognised and granted patents for inventions their systems may make. Read full article here
Oddities
Why Do Modern Pop Songs Have So Many Credited Writers?
The music industry has changed dramatically over the last few decades – with the number of songwriters credited on number one hits more than doubling. This is due to a combination of factors, including money, the computer and a changing definition of what songwriting is. For example, if The Beatles’ classic “I Feel Fine” was released today, it would likely have four writers credited instead of two, due to the influence of producers, samples and interpolations. With the rise of lawsuits, artists now preemptively add songwriter credits to their songs, even if the similarities between their song and the source material are coincidental. It all goes to show that the music industry is becoming more complex and competitive. Read full article here