Commissioned Voices: Rethinking Authorship in Algorithmic Speech

Cameron Domenico Kirk-Giannini (Rutgers University - Newark)

Most legal theorists working on algorithmic speech have held that algorithmically generated text is the speech of the designer of the system that produced it and should therefore be protected. This position has had the unfortunate consequence of limiting regulatory efforts that target social media bot networks designed to influence elections by distorting democratic deliberation. Recently, Peter Salib (2024) has offered an argument against the claim that algorithmically generated text is the speech of the designer of the system that produced it. I scrutinize Salib’s argument and conclude that it is not ultimately convincing. I then offer a framework for thinking about algorithmically generated text that paves the way for a more convincing argument. Central to this framework is the distinction between authoring and merely commissioning a work.