Generative Artificial Intelligence and Human Creativity: Revisiting the Normative Foundations of Intellectual Property

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (gen-AI) undermines the traditional foundations of intellectual property (IP) law by challenging long-standing assumptions about creative production. Historically, copyright and patent systems were based on identifiable human creators whose work, talent, character, and intentionality deserved legal protection. However, gen-AI systems, which can generate text, images, music, software code, and other creative outputs, complicate these assumptions. This article contends that gen-AI does not raise new doctrinal issues but instead reveals deeper conflicts within the normative underpinnings of IP law. The article proposes a human-centred IP framework that preserves meaningful protection for human creative agency while recognising the collective nature of creativity in technologically mediated societies. Drawing on labour, personality, utilitarian, and democratic culture theories, it demonstrates how AI disrupts the relationship between human creativity and IP protection. The article first examines the philosophical foundations of IP law, then analyses how gen-AI disrupts traditional concepts of authorship, originality, and creative agency, evaluates potential normative responses, and proposes a human-centred framework for regulating technologically mediated creativity.