Session: Are Privacy and Intellectual Property Still Relevant? Perspectives From History, Biology, Math, and, of Course, AI
Given the backdrop of big data, AI, opaque patents, and extremely long copyright durations, privacy and intellectual property feel very removed from their origins in ancient Greece, Renaissance Europe, and the Industrial Revolution. However, if we view these ideas through the lens of a system of hierarchical interaction, using information to flourish and fight, then their stories rhyme with other stories. From evolution and survival of multicellular organisms and ant colonies, to attribution of historical inventions, to organizations and economic mechanisms, to conventional warfare and cyberwarfare, what can we learn from these metaphors about privacy and intellectual property? What might those lessons imply for the future of open source and knowledge sharing?
