Abbott warns that excluding AI-generated inventions and content from legal protection could slow innovation and hinder future drug development. The U.S. Copyright Office has already declined to grant copyright protection to images and text created entirely by artificial intelligence, raising broader concerns among organizations such as the Motion Picture Association of America and its members, many of which use AI tools.
According to Mr. Abbott, the purpose of U.S. intellectual property law is to encourage innovation. That principle is rooted in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which grants inventors and authors exclusive rights to their creations for a limited period in order to “promote the progress of science and useful arts.”
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office appears to be taking a cautious approach to artificial intelligence in the patent system. During the Biden administration, the agency issued guidance to help patent applicants determine whether human contributors could qualify as co-inventors of AI-assisted discoveries. Patent policy has since shifted, while the Japan Patent Office generally treats AI as a tool similar to a computer and does not require it to be identified as an inventor.
Leading AI pharmaceutical companies continue to rely on human expertise and carefully document their research. In silico, Zaboronkov explains, human chemists must still synthesize drug candidates, develop variations, and test them in animals. “That’s the person who will be named on the patent,” he says. “Even if we completely automate the process, including the experiments, someone will still press the button and provide the budget.”
Whether simply operating an AI system can qualify someone as an inventor may ultimately be decided through future litigation. Abbott illustrates the challenge by asking, “What if I asked Claude to cure my cancer and it did? I don’t think it would be appropriate to claim that I invented the cure.”
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review’s weekly biotechnology newsletter. Get it delivered to your inbox every Thursday and be the first to read more stories about AI, biotech, drug discovery, and scientific innovation. Sign up here.
Source: www.technologyreview.com