The Genie in the Machine: How Computer-Automated Inventing Is Revolutionizing Law and Business (Stanford Law Books)

We have long considered inventing to be a uniquely human activity. But just as the assembly line automated the process of manufacturing, today's computers are automating the process of inventing. Software can automatically generate designs for everything from toothbrushes to antennas to automobile frames more quickly and inexpensively than ever before, thereby ushering in a new era of artificial invention. Inventors will use artificial invention technology to boost their inventive abilities to previously undreamed-of heights, enabling small teams of inventors to compete with mega-corporations who insist on inventing the old-fashioned way. Even consumers will be able to use artificial invention technology to become inventors themselves. We stand poised to see the emergence of the "digital renaissance artisan"—a person who will have the ability to not only design new inventions at the touch of a button, but also to manufacture them automatically from the comfort of home. As Robert Plotkin reveals in this landmark book, our decisions about these inventions today will dictate who gets to control this powerful technology tomorrow. Should inventions designed by software be patentable? Should the software that produces those designs be patentable? The Genie in the Machine offers the first-ever examination of the implications of artificial invention technology for patent law, the law of invention. Along with practical advice for inventors, high-tech companies, and patent lawyers, this forward-looking book provides concrete recommendations for reforming patent law in light of the growing importance of invention-automation technology. Introduction: The Coming Artificial Invention Age PART I: Automating Invention 1 A Prehistory of Genies 2 Enter the Universal Machine 3 The Rise of Wishes 4 Artificial Invention Today 5 Invention Automation: Old and New 6 Humans and Their Tools: Partners in Invention PART II: Regulating Genies 7 Patenting Artificial Inventions 8 Follow the Value 9 Free the Genie, Bottle the Wish 10 The Limits of Law in a World of Genies PART III: Living with Genies 11 Learning How to Wish 12 Competing with Genies 13 Advising Aladdin 14 A Genie in Every Home Acknowledgments Notes Index Introduction : the coming of the artificial invention age Pt. 1. Automating invention. A prehistory of genies Enter the universal machine The rise of wishes Artificial invention today Invention automation : old and new Humans and their tools : partners in invention Pt. 2. Regulating genies. Patenting artificial inventions Follow the value Free the genie, bottle the wish The limits of law in a world of genies Pt. 3. Living with genies. Learning how to wish Competing with genies Advising Aladdin A genie in every home. This book examines the use of computers to automate the process of inventing. The author argues that since software can conceive of and abandon ideas without biases, and with greater speed and range, computers could boost inventive abilities to undreamed of heights. This would enable small teams, or even consumers, to compete with corporations. The author also looks at how this would affect patents The Genie in the Machine examines how computers are being used to automate the process of inventing, and explains the steps that high-tech companies, patent lawyers, inventors, and consumers should take to thrive in the upcoming Artificial Invention Age.