A man in the US had to say sorry after trying to use an AI avatar to speak for him during a court hearing. This strange event happened on March 26 at the New York appeals court. The man, Jerome Dewald, was involved in a job-related legal case and wanted to present his side using a video.
When the hearing began, Justice Sallie Manzanet-Daniels said, “The appellant has submitted a video for his argument. We will hear that video now.”
The video showed a young man with neat hair and a big smile saying, “May it please the court. I come here today a humble pro se before a panel of five distinguished justices.” But the judge quickly stopped the video and asked, “Is that the lawyer for the case?”
Mr. Dewald admitted, “I generated that. That’s not a real person.”
The judges were not happy. Justice Manzanet-Daniels said the court should have been told about the AI avatar. “I don’t appreciate being misled,” she said, and ordered the video to be turned off.
Mr. Dewald explained he didn’t have a lawyer and wanted the AI avatar to speak clearly because he often mumbles or stumbles over his words. He used a tool made by a San Francisco company to create the avatar. He tried to make the avatar look like him but couldn’t figure it out in time. He also said he had asked the court for permission to show a prerecorded video.
“The court was really upset about it. They chewed me up pretty good,” Mr. Dewald said. He later wrote an apology letter to the court, saying he didn’t mean to cause any trouble.
Source: ndtv
