Drawing The Lines: Intellectual Property In AI Ecosystems

AI's ability to teach itself borders on metaphysical, so harnessing the benefits of this phenomenon — by both providers and customers — requires thoughtful navigation.

Typically, a provider offers its proprietary algorithms, while the customer brings datasets and maybe a query to run. The AI platform, along with supporting tools, identifies patterns, makes predictions, and generates outputs. As usage increases, the model “heats up” — voluminous customer throughput turns out to be rich with information. Based on the customer's inputs and repeat processing, the AI platform uses whatever it has learned to infer ever-nuanced responses and train and distill the model accordingly. The result is accretive to value all around — providers, customers, and their respective products and services all get smarter.