The Infinite Monkey Theorem states that an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of keyboards would eventually generate the complete works of William Shakespeare. A more recent, and far more limited test of this theorem involved a professional photographer named David Slater providing several great apes with access to his cameras. The photographer sold copies of the resulting monkey selfies, which in turn generated a great deal of discussion and a few court cases over the question of who owned the copyrights in the selfies. In the past few years, the issue has shifted from monkey-created works to generative AI works. Who owns the rights to works and inventions created in whole or in part by a computer program? Who will speak for the monkeys? And will chatbots speak for themselves?
Recorded at the Technology Institute in March 2023.