A man shot dead in a road rage incident nearly four years ago appeared in an Arizona courtroom Monday to forgive his killer from beyond the grave — through an eerie AI video played by his family.
A lifelike simulacrum of Christopher Pelkey — who was gunned down by Gabriel Horcasitas in 2021 following a dispute in Chandler, Ariz. — spoke to a court audience in what is believed to be the first use of artificial intelligence to deliver a victim impact statement, according to local reports.
“To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” the artificial rendition of Pelkey said to a packed courtroom. “In another life, we probably could have been friends.”
“I believe in forgiveness and God who forgives. I always have, and still do,” an AI version of Pelkey said.
Horcasitas, 50, was found guilty of manslaughter for shooting Pelkey, 37, to death when he approached his car during a road rage incident in 2021.
Pelkey’s digital resurrection, created by his family, wore a logoless gray baseball cap, an olive green zipper hoodie and a full, ruddy beard. The mouth of the AI victim didn’t always align with the words he was speaking in the clip, but the video still had a powerful effect.
Judge Todd Lang was deeply moved by the artificial recreation.
“I love that AI,” the clearly emotional Judge Lang said, and then proceeded to give the defendant 10-and-a-half years for his role in Pelkey’s death – a full year more than the prosecutors asked for.
The AI video also featured a “real” photograph Pelkey took when he was still alive that was then run through an “old age” filter.
“This is the best I can ever give you of what I would have looked like if I got the chance to grow old,” the artificial version of Pelkey said. “Remember, getting old is a gift that not everybody has, so embrace it and stop worrying about those wrinkles.”
Pelkey’s sister wrote the script that the AI version of her late brother spoke, telling AZ Family she wanted to give him a voice in his own manslaughter case.
“I said, ‘I have to let him speak,’ and I wrote what he would have said, and I said, ‘That’s pretty good, I’d like to hear that if I was the judge’,” Stacey Wales told the outlet.
“I want the world to know Chris existed,” Wales added. “If one person hears his name or sees this footage and goes to his Facebook page or looks him up on YouTube, they will hear Chris’s love.”
Arizona Chief Justice Ann Timmer said she is excited about the potential benefits of AI in the courtroom, but is worried about its lasting effects in a statement to ABC 15.
“AI can also hinder or even upend justice if inappropriately used,” noting that the court has pulled together an AI committee to make recommendations for how best to apply it in the courtroom.
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