This is what’s scary about AI.
Arizona road rage victim speaks to killer through artificial intelligence
The BriefIt's the first-of-its-kind for artificial intelligence.
An Arizona man who was killed during a road-rage incident speaks in court from beyond the grave.
It happened during the victim impact statements, directed at the killer.
PHOENIX - "To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: it is a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances."
That was Chris Pelkey's voice and likeness ringing out in a courtroom three and a half years after his death – but how?
We'll let Chris tell you.
"I'm a version of Chris Pelkey recreated through AI that uses my picture and my voice profile."
The backstory
The artificial intelligence generated video – an idea that initially came to Chris' big sister Stacey Wales as she collected victim impact statements and prepared her own.
"We received 49 letters that the judge was able to read before walking into sentencing that day. But there was one missing piece. There was one voice that was not in those letters," she said.
So Stacey turned to her husband Tim and their friend Scott Yentzer, who together have been working with artificial intelligence tech for years.
The process to bring Chris back, though painstaking, from a technological standpoint.
"There's no tool out there that you can just go and say, here's a voice file. Here's a picture. Please make it come to life. And this is what I wanted to say. So they're scrounging and using this tool and that tool and this tool and this script and this audio and this image and trying to mash it all together and make a Frankenstein of love," said Stacey.
And deciding what the real Chris would say.
What they're saying
"I have my own thoughts and feelings about how much time I want the sentence to be. If I forgave the shooter or not. I have very definitive opinions about that," said Stacey. "But it was important not to make Chris say what I was feeling and to detach and let him speak because he said things that would never come out of my mouth, but I know would come out his."
Chris Pelkey AI: "In another life, we probably could've been friends. I believe in forgiveness and in God who forgives. I always have and I still do."
That message, one that moved Judge Todd Lang.
"I love that AI. Thank you for that. I felt like that was genuine; that his obvious forgiveness of Mr. Horcasitas reflects the character I heard about today."
Also moved was Chris' big brother John, who, along with the rest of the family, Stacey chose not to tell about the AI video to get their genuine reaction.
"There was something about seeing Chris and the man that I knew and the belief that I thought in my head that Chris would have forgiven this guy," said John. "To see his face and to hear his voice say it. Just waves of healing washed over my soul. Because that was the man that I knew."
He continued, "My sister did an exceptional job of detaching herself from her own opinions, her own desires, her own feelings on the matter, and put herself in Chris's shoes, what would Chris say if he were here? It was the beginning of empathy."
But Stacey says the process became easy once she focused on Chris.
"He was the best one of us. What he believes was clear. What he believes was pure. And what he loved was for everyone. And that's the reason why this worked, is because his blanket of love."
Chris Pelkey AI: "Well, I'm gonna go fishing now. Love you all. See you on the other side."
Horcasitas got nearly 13 years in prison