Christopher Pelkey immediately spoke with the man who shot him and killed during a road rage incident in Arizona from 2021 trium and a half years after his death.
“To your honor, judge for a long time, thank you for making yourself available to see this case until the end. Especially when the re -arranged process conflicted with the spring break of your daughter,” said the AI version of Christopher Pelkey presented in a video in the Phoenix, Arizona Courtom.
“For Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: it’s a shame that we met that day in those circumstances,” Pelkey’s voice and parable in the courtroom sounded. “In a different life we could probably have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God that forgives. I have always done that and I still do that.”
The voice was not really that of Pelkey-it also came from a video generated by AI made by his family for the hearing. The digital resurrection marked what is considered the first time that artificial intelligence has been used to deliver a victim impact statement in court.
Maricopa County Superior Court Rechter Lang was visibly moved by the presentation. “I think that’s great ai. Thank you for that,” Lang said the family after watching the video. “I loved the beauty in what Christopher (said) … I felt that it was real.”
Horcasitas was found guilty of manslaughter for the shooting of 37-year-old Pelkey during an anger confrontation in Chandler, Arizona in 2021. The judge sentenced 50-year-old Horcasitas to almost 13 years in prison more than a year in prison.
The idea of using the similarity of the victim in court came from Pelkey’s sister, Stacey Wales, when she collected impact statements from family and friends. She received 49 letters in court to read, but that wasn’t enough.
“One piece was missing. There was one voice that was not in those letters,” Wales told Fox 10 Phoenix.
Making the AI version of her brother was not easy. Wales turned to her husband Tim and their friend Scott Yentzer, who have been working with AI technology for years. The team brought together different tools to bring Pelkey back to life – what Wales called “a Frankenstein of Love”.
More challenging than dealing with the technical aspects was to decide what Pelkey would say. Wales had strong opinions about the conviction and whether he wanted to forgive Horcasitas, but claims that she did her best to be honest.
“It was important not to let Chris say what I felt, and let him go and let him speak – because he said things that would never come out of my mouth, but I know his own,” Wales explained.
The AI simulation was not perfect, but was good enough to activate emotional reactions with those who have looked at it. The video even contained a photo of Pelkey that was led by an “old age” filter to show what he would have looked like when he had lived.
“This is the best thing I can ever give you how I would have looked like if I got the chance to grow old,” said the AI version of Pelkey. “Don’t forget that getting old is a gift that not everyone has, so embrace it and stop worrying about those wrinkles.”
Of course, the concept of using a DeepFake image of a dead person to manipulate judges and jury is a new kind of problem that only generative AI could have created. Arizona Chief Justice Ann Timmer noted in a statement to ABC Arizona That although AI offers potential benefits, it could also “hinder or even increase justice if it is used incorrectly.”
And that is a double-edged sword that can be exploited in the future, especially because AI videoerators improve in quality to produce almost lifelike output and people are increasingly using it to animate photos of their deceased loved ones. Arizona is professor of law Gary Marchant also interviewed the use of AI in courts.
“If you look at the facts of this case, I would say that its value [outweighed] The adverse effect, “he told the local news exit AZ Family“But if you look at other cases, you could imagine where they would be very detrimental.”
Published by Andrew Hayward
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