Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AI

The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the domain of text production challenges the traditional boundaries of authorship. This paper examines whether AI systems can be considered co-authors of texts created in collaboration with humans. We explore this question from cultural...

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Main Authors: Natalia A. Maslenkova, Anna S. Nikitina
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Samara National Research University 2025-07-01
Series:Семиотические исследования
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.ssau.ru/semiotic/article/viewFile/28760/11384
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author Natalia A. Maslenkova
Anna S. Nikitina
author_facet Natalia A. Maslenkova
Anna S. Nikitina
author_sort Natalia A. Maslenkova
collection DOAJ
description The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the domain of text production challenges the traditional boundaries of authorship. This paper examines whether AI systems can be considered co-authors of texts created in collaboration with humans. We explore this question from cultural, ethical, and philosophical perspectives, drawing on current frameworks in copyright law, literary theory, and digital humanities. The study employs an interdisciplinary methodology, analyzing selected cases of AI-assisted textual production across academic, artistic, and journalistic domains. Particular attention is given to the extent of AI’s semantic contribution and the human agent’s role in directing, editing, or curating the outcome. While current legal systems attribute authorship solely to human individuals, the increasing sophistication of AI tools necessitates re-examining this paradigm. Key issues addressed include the legal non-personhood of AI, the difficulty of attributing creative intent, and the implications of AI-generated content for intellectual property frameworks. We discuss models such as extended authorship, distributed creativity, and networked authorship, suggesting that these may better reflect the hybrid nature of human–AI interaction. We conclude by recommending a context-sensitive, field-specific approach to authorship in AI-mediated creativity. A dialogic framework involving legal scholars, content creators, ethicists, and developers is proposed to develop adaptive guidelines that balance innovation and intellectual responsibility.
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spelling doaj-art-e91a8bfc5d8f403e82c8b7d5001d69822025-08-20T04:00:51ZengSamara National Research UniversityСемиотические исследования2782-29662782-29582025-07-015212213310.18287/2782-2966-2025-5-2-122-1338943Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AINatalia A. Maslenkova0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2100-3510Anna S. Nikitina1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4962-0166Samara National Research UniversitySamara National Research UniversityThe increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the domain of text production challenges the traditional boundaries of authorship. This paper examines whether AI systems can be considered co-authors of texts created in collaboration with humans. We explore this question from cultural, ethical, and philosophical perspectives, drawing on current frameworks in copyright law, literary theory, and digital humanities. The study employs an interdisciplinary methodology, analyzing selected cases of AI-assisted textual production across academic, artistic, and journalistic domains. Particular attention is given to the extent of AI’s semantic contribution and the human agent’s role in directing, editing, or curating the outcome. While current legal systems attribute authorship solely to human individuals, the increasing sophistication of AI tools necessitates re-examining this paradigm. Key issues addressed include the legal non-personhood of AI, the difficulty of attributing creative intent, and the implications of AI-generated content for intellectual property frameworks. We discuss models such as extended authorship, distributed creativity, and networked authorship, suggesting that these may better reflect the hybrid nature of human–AI interaction. We conclude by recommending a context-sensitive, field-specific approach to authorship in AI-mediated creativity. A dialogic framework involving legal scholars, content creators, ethicists, and developers is proposed to develop adaptive guidelines that balance innovation and intellectual responsibility.https://journals.ssau.ru/semiotic/article/viewFile/28760/11384artificial intelligenceauthorshipcopyright lawhuman–ai collaborationdigital creativityethics of aicreative writing technologies
spellingShingle Natalia A. Maslenkova
Anna S. Nikitina
Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AI
Семиотические исследования
artificial intelligence
authorship
copyright law
human–ai collaboration
digital creativity
ethics of ai
creative writing technologies
title Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AI
title_full Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AI
title_fullStr Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AI
title_full_unstemmed Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AI
title_short Artificial intelligence as a co-author? Rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with AI
title_sort artificial intelligence as a co author rethinking authorship in the context of human interaction with ai
topic artificial intelligence
authorship
copyright law
human–ai collaboration
digital creativity
ethics of ai
creative writing technologies
url https://journals.ssau.ru/semiotic/article/viewFile/28760/11384
work_keys_str_mv AT nataliaamaslenkova artificialintelligenceasacoauthorrethinkingauthorshipinthecontextofhumaninteractionwithai
AT annasnikitina artificialintelligenceasacoauthorrethinkingauthorshipinthecontextofhumaninteractionwithai