Is anything real anymore? AI testimonials take over the American justice system

Generative AI has been developing at a breakneck pace since the high-profile release of ChatGPT in November 2022. The Large Language Model (LLM) garnered massive media recognition for its ability to write complex and coherent responses to simple prompts. Other AI LLMs such as Character.ai and Microsoft's 'Sydney' (now the AI copilot) also gained media notoriety for the manner in which they seemed to mimic human emotions to an uncanny degree.
Written text is not the only area where AI has a disruptive effect, with image generation algorithms such as Midjourney, and video generation programs such as Google Veo progressively blurring the line between what's made by humans, and what's made by AI. Google Veo, in particular, became infamous for generating short videos resembling viral social media posts that had netizens wondering how convincing they looked.
These rapid developments in AI technology have led to increased concerns about their disruptive impact on everyday life, and this has now begun to happen in the courtrooms of the United States.
AI testimonies are now a part of the US court system
AI video is now being introduced as a kind of posthumous testimony in court trials. During a manslaughter sentencing hearing where the victim was an American male named Christopher Pelkey, shot and killed in a road rage incident, an AI video of Perkley played where he gave an impact statement.
The video had the AI say 'To Gabriel Horcasidas, the man who shot me, it is a shame we encountered each other that day, under those circumstances…I believe in forgiveness, and a God who forgives and I always have. I still do.'
Pelkey's sister, Stacy Wales, had given her own testimony during the sentencing hearing, but didn't feel that her own words alone could properly convey the extent of her grief.
Christopher Pelkey was killed in a road rage incident in Chandler in 2021, but last month, artificial intelligence brought him back to life during his killer's sentencing hearing. pic.twitter.com/JEIRw9GGyw
At the end of the hearing, Gabriel Horcasidas was sentenced to 10.5 years in prison. The ruling has since been appealed, shining a spotlight on the disruptive impact AI tech is already having on America's court system.
Speaking to the Associated Press, AI deepfake expert David Evan Harris said that the technology might end up stacking the deck in favour of the wealthy and privileged:
'I imagine that will be a contested form of evidence, in part because it could be something that advantages parties that have more resources over parties that don't,'
In one of the viral Google Veo videos that took the internet by storm, an AI generated girl says: 'This is wild. I'm AI generated by Veo 3. Nothing is real anymore.'
We are cooked.Google Veo 3 just broke the internet.10 wild examples 1. Nothing is real anymore pic.twitter.com/rUY6IVGcz2
With the increasing normalization of AI technology in everyday life, as well as vital civic avenues such as criminal justice, the impacts of such technologies are sure to be dissected and studied for years to come.

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Anuj Bhatia is a personal technology writer at who has been covering smartphones, personal computers, gaming, apps, and lifestyle tech actively since 2011. He specialises in writing longer-form feature articles and explainers on trending tech topics. His unique interests encompass delving into vintage tech, retro gaming and composing in-depth narratives on the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture. He covers major international tech conferences and product launches from the world's biggest and most valuable tech brands including Apple, Google and others. At the same time, he also extensively covers indie, home-grown tech startups. Prior to joining The Indian Express in late 2016, he served as a senior tech writer at My Mobile magazine and previously held roles as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. Anuj holds a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University. You can find Anuj on Linkedin. Email: ... Read More