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Chris Pelkey was fatally shot in a road rage incident in Chandler, Arizona, in November 2021. At the sentencing of Gabriel Horcasitas on manslaughter charges, a video recording of Pelkey created with AI was played to the court, in what is thought to be a courtroom first.

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Does not belong in a court room where finding the truth is supposed to be paramount. These aren't this man's words. They are words written by others (his family today but tomorrow the lawyer or who else). Who gets to decide what a dead man speaks if there is disagreement on what he might say?

Unsettling Black Mirror sh*t. I suppose there might be some legality to a family/estate having the rights to the deceased person's likeness, but this seems extremely disrespectful, and should never be part of courtroom proceedings.

cut to his weird ass sister giving PR trained and rehearsed responses around both "wanting his voice to be heard" but also her admitting she wrote the entire script herself

This is not a recording of him! This is playing dolls with his image! This is making him say what somebody else wants him to say! Putting words in his mouth in the most ghoulish way possible! Everybody involved in this should be deeply ashamed!

I don’t think this was submitted as evidence, rather this was played during sentencing. Similar to when the family of a victim might speak. At this point in the trial the facts of the matter have already been established and the defendant is already considered guilty. It still *weird* AF though.

What the actual fuck! This feels wrong. If a family member wants to speak for the victim, I get that, but it doesn't seem like AI should be allowed to speak for anyone in a courtroom. If AI being used from either side affects the outcome of the case, wouldn't that present a troubling precedent?

Wait till it’s used for vengeance and death sentences. It will be if allowed. Making the accused physically look more menacing etc etc My dying wish was that my killer should suffer the immense pain they caused me..