Join us for an intellectually invigorating G-IPTech Lecture featuring the esteemed Prof Séverine Dusollier, as she delves into the "Aesthetics of AI" and unravels the intricate relationship between human creativity and algorithmic generation. The rapid progress of generative AI has opened fascinating discussions about creation and authorship. Where does the machine begin and the human stop in works generated by algorithms ? Is AI capable of creating and producing emotions, meanings or beauty ? In other words, is there an aesthetics of algorithmic creation ? Law, art history, aesthetics and computer science and engineering might provide different answers to such questions and use distinct epistemologies to define what choices and decisions are made by generative AI when ordered to produce an image, a music or a text. Copyright law has always considered with some perplexity the creation by machines, from the early age of photography to today’s AI ‘creativity’, while accepting works created by human authors using technology as mere tools. The first cases on the copyrightability of AI-generated ‘works’ or the unauthorized use of protected works as training data strictly reiterate a romantic vision of authorship and of creation ex nihilo, in a solitary and individualistic gesture. The aesthetics vision of copyright law so departs from creative practices and ancient hybrid relations between authors and robots. Prof Dusollier, a luminary in Intellectual Property law from Sciences Po Paris, will guide us through the complex labyrinth of legal, artistic, and computational perspectives on AI-generated content. With her rich academic background and extensive research into the digital dimensions of copyright, authorship, and the concept of the public domain, Prof Dusollier will shed light on how law and aesthetics intersect and diverge in the context of AI. This event is not just a lecture but a multidisciplinary discourse that will challenge your perceptions and enrich your understanding of the evolving landscape of creation in the age of artificial intelligence. Don't miss this opportunity to engage with cutting-edge debates and gain insights from one of the foremost authorities in the field.

Séverine Dusollier

Severine Dusollier is Professor of Intellectual Property in the Law School of Sciences Po Paris and holds a Senior Chair at the Institut Universitaire de France. She is the Vice-Dean for research of the Law School, member of its doctoral committee and the Head of the Master in Innovation Law. She is a Qualified Member of the CSPLA (French Copyright Council) and a founding member of the European Copyright Society. From 2014-2019, she was the holder of an ERC (European Research Council) research grant on commons and inclusivity in property. Her current research interests are digital issues of copyright, the concept of authorship, contractual protection of authors and performers, exceptions and limitations, commons and property, public domain.

From 2006-2014, she was Professor at the University of Namur (Belgium) and the Director of the CRIDS (Research Centre in Information, Law and Society). Recognised as an academic expert in copyright, she has carried out research for international and EU institutions. She has been a Research Fellow at Berkeley University (2001), at the European University Institute of Florence (2005-2006), Visiting fellow at the University of Columbia (2011), NYU (2017) and LUISS (2021). She is also a regular Invited Professor at CEIPI at the University of Strasbourg .