AI Avatar Tries To Argue Case Before a New York Court

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: It took only seconds for the judges on a New York appeals court to realize that the man addressing them from a video screen -- a person about to present an argument in a lawsuit -- not only had no law degree, but didn't exist at all. The latest bizarre chapter in the awkward arrival of artificial intelligence in the legal world unfolded March 26 under the stained-glass dome of New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division's First Judicial Department, where a panel of judges was set to hear from Jerome Dewald, a plaintiff in an employment dispute. 'The appellant has submitted a video for his argument,' said Justice Sallie Manzanet-Daniels. 'Ok. We will hear that video now.'

On the video screen appeared a smiling, youthful-looking man with a sculpted hairdo, button-down shirt and sweater. 'May it please the court,' the man began. 'I come here today a humble pro se before a panel of five distinguished justices.' 'Ok, hold on,' Manzanet-Daniels said. 'Is that counsel for the case?' 'I generated that. That's not a real person,' Dewald answered. It was, in fact, an avatar generated by artificial intelligence. The judge was not pleased. 'It would have been nice to know that when you made your application. You did not tell me that sir,' Manzanet-Daniels said before yelling across the room for the video to be shut off. 'I don't appreciate being misled,' she said before letting Dewald continue with his argument.

Dewald later penned an apology to the court, saying he hadn't intended any harm. He didn't have a lawyer representing him in the lawsuit, so he had to present his legal arguments himself. And he felt the avatar would be able to deliver the presentation without his own usual mumbling, stumbling and tripping over words. In an interview with The Associated Press, Dewald said he applied to the court for permission to play a prerecorded video, then used a product created by a San Francisco tech company to create the avatar. Originally, he tried to generate a digital replica that looked like him, but he was unable to accomplish that before the hearing. 'The court was really upset about it,' Dewald conceded. 'They chewed me up pretty good.' As for Dewald's case, it was still pending before the appeals court as of Thursday.

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