Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasing role in both technical innovation and artistic creativity. AI can support innovation and creativity in a range of ways. It can be a tool for scientists, entrepreneurs and artists, enabling new human inventions and creations. Some believe that AI will soon be inventing and creating things in ways that make it impossible to identify the human intellectual input in the final invention or work. Some feel this is happening now.

The UK government has launched a new consultation on IP rights and AI, which remains open until 7 January 2022. The consultation is part of a wider policy push into the AI sphere, as already highlighted in the UK government's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and in its "Call for Views" on AI and IP earlier in 2021. The UK government is acknowledging and responding to such calls and focusing on the following three main areas for these purposes. The consultation now queries whether they should be protected at all or whether a new right of reduced scope and duration should be introduced. The consultation questions whether the TDM licensing environment should be improved or extended (to cover commercial research and databases) or whether a TDM exception (with or without rights holder opt-out) should be adopted.