this post was submitted on 08 May 2025
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A Judge Accepted AI Video Testimony From a Dead Man (www.404media.co)
submitted 1 day ago by riot@slrpnk.net to c/technology@lemmy.world
104 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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.’”

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[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 4 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

I'd argue that emotions are a legitimate factor to consider in sentencing.

It's a bit more obvious with living victims of non-homicide crimes, but the emotional impact of crime is itself a cost borne by society. A victim of a romance scam having trouble trusting again, a victim of a shooting having PTSD with episodes triggered by loud noises, a victim of sexual assault dealing with anxiety or depression after, etc.

It's a legitimate position to say that punishment shouldn't be a goal of criminal sentencing (focusing instead of deterrence and rehabilitation), or that punishment should be some sort of goal based entirely on the criminal's state of mind and not the factors out of their own control, but I'd disagree. The emotional aftermath of a crime is part of the crime, and although there's some unpredictable variance involved, we already tolerate that in other contexts, like punishing a successful murder more than an attempted murder.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 1 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

Sure, but that's just vengeance.

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

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.ee 1 points 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.

[–] joshchandra@midwest.social 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure @booly@sh.itjust.works was meaning the exact opposite, that it's more about educating perpetrators than taking vengeance or merely dishing out old-fashioned justice on them.

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

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.