A US Army veteran who was killed in a road rage incident nearly four years ago was able to forgive the man who fatally shot him – thanks to artificial intelligence, Daily Mail reported on Thursday.
Christopher Pelkey, 37, was shot dead by Gabriel Paul Horcasitas while on his way home from a church softball game in Chandler, Arizona on November 13, 2021, according to an online fundraiser.
Horcasitas has since been found guilty of Pelkey’s manslaughter but before he was sentenced, the court heard from an AI-generated version of Pelkey himself.
The AI video was created by Pelkey’s sister Stacey Wales, who felt that the shooter needed to hear what the Army veteran would have told him.
To Gabriel Horcasitas, the man who shot me: It’s a shame we encountered each other that day in those circumstances,” the AI said, according to Fox 10.
“In another life, we probably could have been friends,’ it continued, noting: ‘I believe in forgiveness and in [a] God who forgives. I always have and I still do.”
The four-and-a-half minute long video was also said to have included real video clips taken while Pelkey was still alive and showed a real photo he once took with an “old age” filter, ABC 15 reports.
This is the best I can ever give you of what I would have looked like if I got the chance to grow old,” the AI version of the Army vet said. “Remember, getting old is a gift that not everyone has, so embrace it and stop worrying about those wrinkles.”
He concluded by saying, “Well, I’m gonna go fishing now. Love you all. See you on the other side.”
The video was said to have moved Judge Todd Lang so thoroughly that he decided to sentence Horcasitas to 10 and half years in jail – one year more than the state prosecutors were asking for.
“I love that AI,” he reportedly said after the video played in his courtroom.
“Thank you for that. I felt like that was genuine; that his obvious forgiveness of Mr. Horcasitas reflects the character I heard about today.”
He added that the video “says something about the family, because you told me how angry you were and you demanded the maximum sentence.
“And even though that’s what you wanted, you allowed Chris to speak from his heart as you saw it,” the judge told Wales, noting: “I didn’t hear him ask for the maximum sentence.”
The AI-generated video reportedly provided another benefit as well – giving Pelkey’s family some closure.
“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 his older brother, John, who – like the rest of the family – was unaware his sister was making the video.
“To see his face and to hear his voice say it, just waves of healing washed over my soul,” John continued. “Because that was the man I knew.”
Wales’ teenage son also thanked her in the aftermath, saying he “needed to hear from Uncle Chris one last time.”
But creating the AI video was no small feat – and was not something Wales had originally planned to do.
Instead, she told NPR how she had kept a list for two years of everything she would like to say to the man who killed her brother, but could not think of what to write once it actually came time to write her victim impact statement.
At that point, she reportedly reached out to as many people from Pelkey’s life as possible to provide the judge with a full picture of the man she knew – from his elementary school teacher, to his high school prom date and the soldiers he served with on three tours to the Middle East.
In the end, Wales said she had nearly 50 victim impact statements – but still felt like something was missing.
“He doesn’t get a say,” she realized of her brother. “He doesn’t get a chance to speak.”
Wales then decided to sit down at her computer and write “what he would have said,” and when she was done she realised, “That was pretty good. I’d like to hear that if I was the judge,” she told AZ Family, noting that even though she had not yet forgiven Horchasitas, her brother would have.
The problem, they soon realised, was that there was not a single program that was designed to make a video like this.
They also needed a long, clear audio clip of Pelkey’s voice and a photo of him looking straight at the camera – neither of which Wales had.
So the trio instead used multiple AI programs to create the four and a half minute long video, using his funeral photo.
Still, NPR reports, they had to digitally remove the sunglasses from atop Pelkey’s hat and trimmed his beard.
Recreating his laugh was also difficult Wales said, because most clips of Pelkey laughing were filled with background noise.
When the project was finally finished, Wales reached out to victim’s rights attorney Jessica Gattuso to tell her about the video.
At first, Gattuso reportedly said she was hesitant to play the video in court because nothing like that has ever been done before.
But after seeing the video, the lawyer said she felt compelled that it should be viewed at the hearing.
“I knew it would have an impact on everyone, including the shooter, because it was a message of forgiveness,” she was quoted as saying..
Daily Mail reports that legal experts still say the use of artificial intelligence in judicial hearings may be a slippery slope.
It added that the Arizona State Supreme Court has convened a committee “to examine AI use and make recommendations for how best to use it.”
