Writers should stop worrying and learn to love GenAI

Generative AI is here to disrupt the distribution of intellectual material and not the creativity of authors

- RAHUL MATTHAN

There is a widespread misconception that copyright law exists to provide authors with the incentive to write. But most writers are unable to earn a living off writing. With Generative AI challenging traditional notions of intellectual property, it is well worth asking what truly motivates writers—and what exactly it is that society should be looking to reward.

Intellectual property dates back to the mid-1400s—to a time when the importance of the Venetian Republic was on the rise. While Venetians were already wealthy from trade, they knew they would be richer still if, instead of traveling to acquire the fine silks their customers craved, they could learn how to make this fabric.

For this, they needed to entice Eastern artisans to settle in Venice for long enough to pass on their skills to local craftsmen. And so, they came up with the concept of the privilegio, a special privilege that provided an assurance that, for the duration of their residency in Venice, no one else would be allowed to manufacture the goods that these artisans produced. Before long, Venice became renowned across Europe as a center of fine craftsmanship and that limited monopoly became the way in which creators were compensated.