UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) first webinar on Generative AI and intellectual property was held on May 25. It featured a series of conversations on both, the challenges and the positive aspects of AI. One of the discussions revolved around the opportunities generative AI creates for the global south’s traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). TKs and TCEs are the skills, and practices, such as techniques of hunting and agriculture, that are developed, sustained, and passed on from generation to generation within a community. The discussion featured Liz Lenjo, the chairperson of the Copyright Tribunal of Kenya. Documenting and monitoring traditional knowledge Lenjo says that presently, all efforts to ensure the protection of traditional knowledge rests on the government’s shoulders. She gave the example of Kenya, saying that while the country has a TK Act, “communities are very heavily reliant on the government, so that makes the process of protecting TK and TCEs almost a government intervention situation, and I think we really need to shift the power to the community.” She believes that there is a need for efforts to empower the community to deal with the documentation of TKs and TCEs and that AI can prove to be a good partner in that endeavour. “Most communities are struggling with resource mobilization, and even when they document, where are they going to put these TKs and TCEs right? How are they going to assert this right [the right to seek intellectual property protection for…
