Esther Bolanie Ekundayo

Research degree: PhD
Start date: 2021
Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCID): 0009-0007-7808-5277

Research summary

Project Title: The protection of Artificial Intelligence (AI)- generated creative works through Authorship: A reflection on the Nigerian experience to determine lessons to be learnt from the UK

Esther Ekundayo's research centres around Gen-AI and its relationship with Intellectual Property (particularly Copyright). It examines the Copyright laws of the United Kingdom with respect to works created by computers and attempts to apply it to the Nigerian system through a comparative analysis. It approaches this by examining the authorship of such works in both jurisdictions. Gen-AI is an aspect of Artificial Intelligence that can produce contents such as text, images, audio and video. These contents are usually known to be mainly created by humans in most jurisdictions around the world. Esther's research therefore examines whether such works, when created by gen-AI, should be protected by Copyright law.

The research aims to protect the right of creators who use AI systems to generate copyrightable contents. The primary goal was to develop a new legal framework for the protection of generative-AI works through Copyright. The research concluded that traditional copyright principles should be retained but perhaps the laws should be expanded, to accommodate gen-AI and its capabilities. Ultimately, that human control of technology should be encouraged to enable AI/gen-AI is built within the confines of social justice rules and in the same vein, avoid the abuse of AI/gen-AI.

Her interest in this area stemmed from an article about Van Gogh's the 'Next Rembrandt' created by an AI as well as a significant gap in the literature about the uncertainties surrounding the copyright authorship of gen-AI works. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of AI significantly deepened her research interest, prompting a more in-depth exploration of this area. This research involved a significant degree of interdisciplinary analysis, effectively bridging the gap between technology and law. This experience has strengthened her passion for the intersection of law and technology and her aspirations to contribute meaningfully to this field. Her future research will focus on the policy implications of AI/gen-AI.

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Research Supervisor: Mohammed El-Said, Justine Mitchell
Student: Esther Ekundayo

Esther Ekundayo

Research summary

Project Title: The protection of Artificial Intelligence (AI)- generated creative works through Authorship: A reflection on the Nigerian experience to determine lessons to be learnt from the UK

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