Road Rage Victims 'Resurvive' Through AI, Facing Killers At Arizona Session

JAKARTA - A simulation of a dead man, created with artificial intelligence (AI), spoke to the killer at the Arizona court this month, which appears to be one of the first events in the US courtroom. The video created by Christopher Pelkey's family features AI-generated avatars speaking at the Maricopa County High Court on May 1, as judges prepare to sentence Gabriel Paul Horcasitas who has shot and killed Pelkey in an incident of anger on the street in 2021.

"It's a shame we met that day in such a state," Pelkey's avatar said in the video. "In another life, we might be friends."

Pelkey's avatar is seen wearing a long beard and a green swimsuit with a white background. He warned at the beginning of the video that he was Pelkey's AI version, which can be seen through audio gaps and slightly out-of-synchronous mouth movements.

Pelkey, a veteran of the US Army, was 37 years old when the shooting incident occurred.

This video marks the use of new AI technologies in legal systems, which have so far viewed this evolving technology with a mixture of admiration and caution. Courts generally have strict rules regarding the types of information that can be presented in legal proceedings, and some lawyers have been convicted after AI made the fake cases they quoted in legal documents.

Pelkey's family was given more leeway to present the video generated by AI to the judge in the sentencing hearing, considering the video was not evidence in the case. Horcasity, which was sentenced to 10.5 years in state prison, has been sentenced to murder and endangers safety.

Pelkey's younger sister, Stacey Wales, said she wrote a message generated by AI after years of pain and sadness in her personal statement. She admitted that she was not ready to forgive Horcasity, but felt her brother would have a more understanding view.

"The goal is to humanize Chris, to reach the judge, and tell him about the impact he has had on this world and that he really exists," Wales told Reuters.

Wales also mentioned that a generative AI is "one more way that can be used to reach someone."Wales collaborated with her husband and a family friend who worked in the tech industry to make the video.

Harry Surden, professor of law at the University of Colorado, said that the use of generative AI material in court raises ethical concerns, as other parties may use the tool to manipulate the emotions of judges and judges. This content is a reality simulation, not verifiable evidence that is usually evaluated in court, said Surden.

"What we are seeing is that this simulation has been so sophisticated that it passes through our natural doubts and immediately touches our emotions," he said.