During the trial of his murderer, a man slaughtered “resuscitates” with the AI to express himself
Chris Pelkey’s family used vocals, videos and photos to recreate it with AI. Stacey Wales, his sister, wrote the text pronounced by this virtual version, inspired by his brother’s mild personality.
A victim “resurrected” In court with AI
“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me, it is a shame that we met that day in these circumstances”said Chris Pelkey’s digital version. “In another life, we could probably have been friends. I believe in forgiveness and a god who forgives. I always believed in it and I always believe in it.”
The AI was used while Gabriel Horcasitas had already been found guilty by a jury for having shot Chris Pelkey to a red light. Todd Lang, the judge who presided over the hearing, appreciated this use of technology. “I liked this AI, thank you for that. As angry as you are, as justified as the family’s anger is, I heard forgiveness”he said before condemning Gabriel Horcasitas to 10 and a half years in prison for manslaughter.
Paul Grimm, a federal retirement judge and professor at the Duke Law School, is not surprised by this use. According to him, Arizona courts already use AI in other contexts as a more accessible rendering of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the State.
Other experts, however, express reservations like Derek Leben. The business ethics professor at Carnegie Mellon University is worried about this previous one. Derek Leben, without blaming Chris Pelkey’s family, believes that AI does not always respect the victims’ wish.
Stacey Wales thinks that this technology simply allowed Chris Pelkey to have the last word: “We have approached this with ethical and morality because it is a powerful tool. Just like a hammer can be used to break a window or demolish a wall, it can also be used to build a house, and that’s how we used this technology.”
