AI cannot be named on a patent as the inventor of a new idea or product, said the UK’s top court in a ruling that raises existential questions about our relationship with ever-more intelligent machines. Handing down the judgment on Wednesday, Lord Kitchin said: “We conclude that an ‘inventor’ must be a natural person. Only a person can devise an invention.” The case was first heard back in 2018 by Imagination Engines founder Stephen Thaler, who sought patents naming his AI machine DABUS as the inventor. Thaler applied to various courts to have DABUS listed as the inventor of a…

This story continues at The Next Web