Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Artificial intelligence definition

What does Artificial intelligence mean? In legal practice, artificial intelligence describes computational systems that perform tasks associated with human cognition—such as recognising patterns, generating content, making predictions or decisions—and that can learn or adapt from data or stimuli. It includes machine learning (including deep learning), generative AI (such as large language models), speech and natural language processing, computer vision, robotics and autonomous systems. Across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, “AI” is a descriptive term used in multiple legal contexts rather than a settled statutory definition; related concepts such as profiling and automated decision-making appear in the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act...

AI and IP: UK and EU law on training data, text and data mining, algorithms, system protection, AI outputs, authorship/inventorship, infringement and licensing

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note sets out to clarify and explore the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) (or machine learning) and IP.

What is artificial intelligence?

‘Artificial intelligence’ describes a field of computing where machines are built to imitate human intellect - the capacities to perceive, analyse, learn, reason and draw inferences. AI has progressed from its 1950s origins to today’s highly adaptable and unprecedented form. Early thinking centred on systems encoded by developers with the know-how of human specialists, producing intricate decision trees that allowed non-experts to reach a desired outcome. A notable early instance was the Deep Blue system, engineered to trawl a data bank of possible chess moves, compiled by grandmasters, and, using the current board position, assess options and choose its next move. In more recent usage, ‘AI’ commonly refers to machine learning, where computers adjust and improve through exposure to data they encounter or are supplied. ‘Machine learning’ means learning from examples rather than having rules laid down by a...

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Caitlin Heard

CMS

Caitlin is an intellectual property litigator and solicitor advocate specialising in multijurisdictional patent litigation. She has acted on several ground-breaking cases, including one of the earliest cases in the UK dealing with Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and FRAND licensing. She has considerable experience providing strategic counsel and coordination of international patent litigation strategy. Caitlin has acted on a number of high profile pharmaceutical and technology disputes across a broad range of industries including telecommunications, information security, mobile banking and ticketing, quantum computing, construction, medical devices, and biotech. Caitlin has represented clients in front of the General Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, IP Enterprise Court and UKIPO. Caitlin has particular expertise advising clients on their IP strategy in respect of SEPs and FRAND licensing. She has also written academically on this subject, having co-authored a textbook chapter in “Intellectual Property in...

Dr Rachel Free

CMS

Rachel Free is a partner at International law firm CMS and a UK and European patent attorney with an MSc in Artificial Intelligence and a DPhil in vision science. She is a member of the House of Lords all party parliamentary group on AI which advises parliamentarians about AI and an independent advisory board member of the University of Bath Centre for Doctoral Training on accountable, responsible, transparent AI....

Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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