fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Corporate Governance › Article

AI may be smart, but boards still carry the legal headache

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · · 1006 words · By Neesa Moodley
Corporate Governance Intellectual Property Organizational Psychology AI Legal Risks
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Ready to play
Daily briefing

What to know about Corporate Governance

That increased AI use by employees means the question for company boards is no longer whether AI will affect their business.

Claims checked 7
Techniques found 2
Topics 4

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left11%
Center78%
Right11%

9 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

That increased AI use by employees means the question for company boards is no longer whether AI will affect their business.

Why it matters

The sharper question is whether directors know where it is being used, what data it is swallowing, what decisions it is shaping and what legal risks may be creeping in through the side door?

Common ground

Leanne Mostert, a partner at Webber Wentzel, says AI risk sits at the intersection of law, information technology, intellectual property, governance and strategy.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-06-02-ai-may-be-smart-but-boards-st…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Appeal to Fear 60% confidence
Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 7 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
verified Verified By Reference 1
info Single Source 1
check_circle
Claim 1: “Thaler then filed patent applications listing Dabus as the only inventor. The US Patent and Trademark Office was not having it. It rejected the applications with a ruling in 2022 stating current patent law recognises human inventors, not machines.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that Thaler filed patents naming DABUS as the sole inventor and that the USPTO rejected these applications, ruling that patent law requires human inventors.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B. V., 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a United States Supreme Court case dealing with the trademarkability of a generic terms appended with a top-level domain (TLD…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_and_Trademark_Office_v.…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United Stat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Patent_and_Trade…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (German: Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt; abbreviation: DPMA) is the German national patent office, with headquarters in Munich, and offices in Berlin and Jena.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Patent_and_Trade_Mark_O…
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 2: “Leanne Mostert, a partner at Webber Wentzel”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm Leanne Mostert is a Partner at Webber Wentzel, specifically within the Technology, Media, Telecommunications & Intellectual Property Practice.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Leanne Mostert - Partner at Webber Wentzel. Leanne is an expert in commercial Intellectual Property (IP) law.
https://www.webberwentzel.com/Specialists/Pages/leanne-moste…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Work Department. Technology, Media, Telecommunications & Intellectual Property Practice ; Position. Partner ; Career. Leanne is an expert in commercial ...
https://www.legal500.com/firms/51407-webber-wentzel/c-south-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Cape Town-based head of department Leanne Mostert operates a notable practice in this field, providing advice on IP commercialisation and the IP considerations ...
https://chambers.com/department/webber-wentzel-intellectual-…
check_circle
Claim 3: “South African copyright law does not depend only on whether a person intended to infringe. The question is whether a substantial part of a protected work has been reproduced.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources regarding South African copyright law state that infringement is determined by whether a 'substantial part' of the work was reproduced, rather than the intent of the person.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Dec 1, 2023 ... The extent or nature of the amount copied from the copyright-protected work determines whether such a portion has been copied, not its ...
https://journals.co.za/doi/10.47348/SAIPLJ/v11/a3
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — what is an “artistic work” in terms of south african coPyright law? An ... In South. Africa, the Performers Protection Act defines phonograms as any ...
https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/sme/en/documents/guide…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The work will be eligible for copyright protection even if ... it is sufficient if a substantial part of the work had been reproduced. In determining whether a ...
https://www.rpclegal.com/-/media/rpc/files/perspectives/ip/s…
verified
Claim 4: “Stephen Thaler, an AI developer, famously created a system called Dabus, short for Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Science.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and multiple web sources explicitly confirm that Stephen Thaler created the AI system DABUS, and provide the full name 'Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience'.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Artificial Inventor Project (AIP) is a global legal initiative headed by Professor Ryan Abbott dedicated to pursuing intellectual property (IP) rights for inventions and creative works generated a…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_Inventor_Project
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — In the 2020s, the rapid advancement of deep learning-based generative artificial intelligence models raised questions about the copyright status of AI-generated works, and about whether copyright infr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_and_co…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — DABUS (Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience) is an artificial intelligence (AI) system created by Stephen Thaler. It reportedly conceived of two novel products — a food contain…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DABUS
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 5: “Heléne Vermaak, director at The Human Edge”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Helene Vermaak is the founder and CEO/director of The Human Edge.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Last week, our Founder & CEO, Helene Vermaak, had the incredible opportunity to present our Crucial Influence Model at the Entrepreneurs' Organisation Durban ...
https://www.facebook.com/HumanEdgeZA/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — I founded The Human Edge in 1996 with a dream to (1) Change Africa for Good; (2) Accelerate leadership development and (3) Help leaders create cultures of care.
https://za.linkedin.com/in/helenevermaak
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — | Founded. Helene Vermaak establishes The Human Edge with the dream to serve a changing corporate Southern Africa, with world-class leadership development ...
https://humanedge.co.za/our-story/
info
Claim 6: “Patent law in several jurisdictions has made one point clear: AI cannot itself be recognised as the inventor.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general links to Wikipedia and USPTO homepages without specific text confirming the legal status of AI as an inventor across multiple jurisdictions.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Search and read the full text of patents from around the world with Google Patents, and find prior art in our index of non-patent literature.
https://patents.google.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Find out how to apply for and maintain a patent in the U.S., and learn about helpful resources.
https://www.uspto.gov/patents
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In modern usage, the term patent usually refers to the right granted to anyone who invents something new, useful and non-obvious.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent
check_circle
Claim 7: “Louise Parry, a partner at Lander and Rogers”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources, including a law firm announcement and Lawyers Weekly, confirm Louise Parry is a Partner at Lander & Rogers in Canberra.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 New Year Honours are appointments by King Charles III among the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_New_Year_Honours
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of albums, EPs, and mixtapes released or scheduled for release in 2026. These albums are (1) original, i.e. excluding reissues, remasters, and compilations of previously releas…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_2026_albums
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of airports in Ontario. It includes all Nav Canada certified and registered water and land airports, aerodromes and heliports in the Canadian province of Ontario. Airport names in itali…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_Ontario
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.