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In 2018, an AI system called DABUS (short for “Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience”) created two inventions. DABUS was created by researchers to generate ideas and then determine which are the most novel, useful, or valuable. This resulted in DABUS creating two inventions without human intervention – an improved beverage container and a “neural flame” device used in search-and-rescue missions. The system creator Stephen Thaler filed patents for the inventions and listed DABUS as the inventor. However, his application was rejected.

Looking at the current law, the Patent Act refers to authors or inventors as patent owners. Only a natural person – so not a corporation or system – are described as possible inventors. Some academics believe that this law is outdated, and some courts agree with this. For example, Australian and South African courts decided that AI systems can be recognised as an inventor.

In the United Kingdom, a judge wrote: “In my judgement it is clear that, upon a systematic interpretation of the 1977 Act, only a person can be an ‘inventor’.” The United States court agrees with the current law, stating: “As technology evolves, there may come a time when artificial intelligence reaches a level of sophistication such that it might satisfy accepted meanings of inventorship. But that time has not yet arrived, and, if it does, it will be up to Congress to decide how, if at all, it wants to expand the scope of patent law”.

What do you think, is AI developed enough to be the rightful owner of a patent, or do people need to keep the rights of intellectual property?

Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58668534
https://www.jonesday.com/en/insights/2019/09/when-innovation-invents

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Quantum computing is a term that is gaining popularity over the recent years, but is currently used by a couple of large organizations due to the complexity of the quantum computing systems. Compared to regular computers that use bits to encode information, quantum computers use qubits. These qubits can make many calculations and can do multiple calculations simultaneously, which means that the quantum computer can perform better and faster than a regular computer. It is expected that technological improvements and commercialization of quantum computing will further enhance the capability of quantum versus classical computing.

However, these quantum computers are extremely sensitive. For example, overheating can cause a qubit to lose its quantum properties, which causes the system to crash. This means that a large infrastructure needs to be built around the quantum computer to keep it cool. This drives up the price and size of quantum computers, making it not suitable for the mass market.

New technologies are developing around improving the infrastructure of quantum computers, which enables the computer to be more practical and thus suitable for the mass market. Orca Computing is a leading manufacturer of these smaller quantum computers, which uses photonics (application of light particles) to cool down the system. This makes the computer more scalable, opening up possibilities for the mass market.

This will enable whole industries to transform and in the end can improve the lives of many people. Think for example of the pharmaceutical industry which currently relies on making approximations in chemistry models. Quantum computing can help deliver accurate simulations of molecules, which leads to a more precise model, which in turn leads to a faster and better development of medicine.

Organizations are getting more aware of the potential of quantum computing and technologies are being developed to improve the scalability of these computers, which can lead to breakthroughs in several industries. It is therefore a positive development to commercialize quantum computing.

Sources:
https://www.newscientist.com/question/what-is-a-quantum-computer/
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-58738571
https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/report/quantumstrategy