The scenes of intelligent robots that we saw in films a few years ago are getting closer and closer to reality, at least in what they already discuss to make laws. In the United States, a judge declared this week that artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be considered as an individual and therefore cannot invent anything or file patents.

It all started in the state of Virginia, where a subject tried to list two designs under the name of artificial intelligence as part of a larger project so that the inventions made by AI are recognized worldwide.

Stephen Thaler, CEO of Imagination Engines Inc., was the one who invented the AI system called DEBUS, which they tried to legally recognized as the inventor of some patents. This AI designed by herself a new form of drink holder and flashlight light to get people’s attention.

In the court of Alexandria (in Virginia), the judge in charge specified that inventors must take an oath for the patent to be delivered to them. However, Thaler filed a statement stating that the “sole inventor” was a “creativity machine” with no legal personality or ability to execute the aforementioned requirement.

According to Bloomberg, US law considers that only humans can be inventors. Despite this, Thaler has been willing to seek recognition of patents for inventions made by AI around the world. It has already done so in South Africa and Australia.

DEBUS, for its part, is part of the Artificial Inventor Project (AIP), an initiative that seeks the same objective: to recognize computers as potential inventors. This group spoke after the ruling in Virginia, through its leader Ryan Abbott: We do not agree with the ruling and we want to appeal. We believe that including an AI as an inventor is consistent with both the language and the purpose of the Patent Law.