During the previous few years, the use of AI has risen exponentially both in the entertainment sphere but also in other mainstream industries and services.

For example, ABBA Voyage has created virtual stars based on real people (known as ABBAtars) in order to present a well-loved show as well as generating large amounts of revenue. While the band members were required for the original motion capture, they did not have to be present at any of the performances in London.

Back in 2020, Robert Kardashian made a speech to commemorate the fortieth birthday of his daughter, Kim Kardashian. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, except for the fact that he had died in 2003, and been resurrected as a holographic animation. He was also very complimentary about his son-in-law, Kanye West, whom he had never met, but who had arranged the reunion through DeepFake holograms.

Now this new technology is having an impact in the legal world. In 2021, Christopher Pelkey was shot dead by Gabriel Paul Horcasitas, while on his way home from a church softball game in Arizona. The perpetrator was later found guilty of manslaughter.

The victim’s sister, Stacey Wales, arranged for the creation of an AI video of Christopher Pelkey, who states that he believes in forgiveness and in a God who forgives. This video was created using real video clips of Christopher during his lifetime, as well as a real photo, which had been taken with an old age filter.

The judge stated that the AI had moved him, and that “his obvious forgiveness of Mr Horcasitas reflects the character I hear about today” and that while the family of the victim had asked for the maximum sentence, the judge noted that “I didn’t hear him ask for the maximum sentence”.

However, the words spoken by the avatar of Pelkey, were not his own. They would have been dictated, written, revised, and agreed by other people, and then fed into the AI model, which would have spoken these words using the image of the deceased victim. While a well educated guess can be made about his future wishes regarding his killer, no one can know for sure what his final statement would have been.

Would the judge have taken into account the avatar’s wishes, if he had requested or demanded the death penalty? Whether this will become more common is hard to guess, but if it does, then it is incumbent on judges passing sentences, to remember that the avatar is not a person, but a well devised personification of certain aspects of their character.