'I Loved That AI:' Judge Moved by AI-Generated Avatar of Man Killed in Road Rage Incident
www.404media.co
How the sister of Christopher Pelkey made an avatar of him to testify in court.

An AI avatar made to look and sound like the likeness of a man who was killed in a road rage incident addressed the court and the man who killed him: “To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” the AI avatar of Christopher Pelkey said. “In another life we probably could have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and a God who forgives. I still do.”

It was the first time the AI avatar of a victim—in this case, a dead man—has ever addressed a court, and it raises many questions about the use of this type of technology in future court proceedings.

The avatar was made by Pelkey’s sister, Stacey Wales. Wales tells 404 Media that her husband, Pelkey’s brother-in-law, recoiled when she told him about the idea. “He told me, ‘Stacey, you’re asking a lot.’”

    • booly@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      8 hours ago

      Why do we punish based on consequences caused by the crime, then?

      A drunk driver is punished much more severely if they hit and kill a person, than if they hit and hurt a person, than if they hit a tree, than if they don’t crash at all.

      As long as we’re punishing people based on the actual impact of their crimes, then emotional impact should count.

      • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        7 hours ago

        You’re right, we should change that too. Imprisoning a drunk driver for longer doesn’t fix anything. Mandate treatment, put a breathalyzer in their car, or revoke their license and give them probation. If they violate probation, then imprison them until they are rehabilitated.

      • booly@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        6 hours ago

        It’s complicated, and people can have different philosophical approaches to the goals and purposes of criminal punishment. But my argument is that people should be internally consistent in their views. If people believe that the consequences of a crime should be considered when sentencing for that crime, then emotional consequences should count, too, because emotional harm is real harm.