The world's first AI inventor has been rejected by British and European patent authorities

The world's first artificially intelligent "inventor" has been rejected by British and European patent authorities, marking an historic moment in an ongoing debate around the role of creative machines. In July last year, an international squad of legal experts challenged patent authorities around the world to recognise the "inventorship" of artificial intelligence, arguing that the current regimes were outdated and do not protect machines' creative output. The nine-strong group, led by University of Surrey professor Ryan Abbott, made headlines after submitting patents designed by an artificially intelligent machine with the US, UK and European authorities. They have since filed more applications in Germany, Israel, Taiwan and China. The team is battling for recognition of a particular AI inventor called Dabus.