Described as an all-pervasive, cross-cutting, and cross-boundary phenomenon, artificial intelligence (AI) systems are now seen as increasingly permeating all aspects of life, and notably the global economy and many legal systems around the world. The increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and notably generative AI (GenAI) not only poses serious challenges to the application and function of intellectual property (IP) law but also threatens to erode some of the foundations on which the present economy has been built. The paper briefly revisits some of the dysfunctional effects of the creative economy and then looks at some of the challenges that the future of IP law faces in restoring the original function of IP law in the context of what has been called the “generative economy”.