Food For Thought: AI And Rights

Shortly before Christmas, the United Kingdom Supreme Court delivered a judgment which was reported under the headline "AI cannot patent inventions, UK Supreme Court confirms".

The reporting. The above headline was taken from https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67772177.

At first blush, this decision appears to be revolutionary.

After all, if the UK Supreme Court (a very eminent authority) held that AI cannot patent inventions, it would reverberate throughout (at least) the common law jurisdictions. And it would pose questions such as, e.g., whether AI can "own" copyright, and if not, what happens next.

A much narrower finding. But a closer read of the decision (accessible at https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKSC/2023/49.html) shows that the UK Supreme Court was making a much narrower finding.