The vast potential of Artificial Intelligence has hit a bump in the road following the refusal by several countries to patent inventions generated by an AI machine, says Macquarie Law School's Dr Rita Matulionyte. Macquarie Law School's Dr Rita Matulionyte, an international expert in intellectual property law, says the decisions – which have been challenged in overseas courts – signal a need for reform to ensure current law does not stifle innovation in an'immensely promising' sector. "This is the first case where an applicant is trying to patent AI-generated inventions and indicate AI as the inventor, whereas previously, patents granted over such AI inventions mentioned human beings as the inventors," Matulionyte says. The economic contribution of AI is potentially huge: according to Australia's AI roadmap, digital technologies including AI are potentially worth $A315 billion to Australia's economy by 2028, while AI alone could be worth $A22.17 Used by companies such as Coca-Cola and KFC to protect their secret recipes, trade secrets is another type of intellectual property law that could be available to AI inventions, Matulionyte says.