Machine learning tools have transformed our ability to do science. We get more, faster. However, some suggest that this progress comes at a high cost: an additional layer of intellectual distance between the individual researcher and his outputs. Others dismiss such concerns as old-fashioned unease with new technology — the same reaction Galileo experienced in connection with his telescopes. In this talk, I shall explore the scientist’s evolving relationship with the ideas of intellectual ownership, identity, and copying throughout modern history. By disentangling the practical and cultural significance of these concepts, I will consider how we might better understand our relationship with AI technology.