Navigating AI With Pestalozzi – Part 5: Intellectual Property

Key Takeaways

• Using generative AI applications which are trained, fine-tuned, or prompted on IP protected content may infringe third-parties' IP rights and bear liability risks for the user of a generative AI application.
• Currently, generative AI cannot be the author of a work of art or the inventor of a technical invention.
• It is unsettled yet to what extent a user of AI applications can be considered the author of a work result generated with a generative AI system based on their prompts. At least in cases in which the AI application is used as a mere tool in an overall process and a human had sufficient influence on the result, the output could potentially be subject to IP protection. For most cases, however, works created with generative AI applications will not be accessible to IP protection.