For the very first time, an artificial intelligence (AI) system has been listed as an inventor. After being turned down by patent officials in the US and the UK, and Europe, University of Surrey Professor Ryan Abbott secured a patent from South Africa for interlocking food containers in the name of the device’s inventor. And that inventor is not a human – it’s an AI system called Dabus, which stands for ‘device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified sentience’. Dabus came up with the innovation after being fed lots of general data covering a range of subjects. Abbott said the decision is likely to set a precedent for other countries and was important to protect intellectual property. And if AI can sort out our Tupperware drawer, we’re here for it…

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