Creepy AI Video of Dead Man Forgiving His Killer Played in Court

An Arizona man who died in a road rage incident in 2021 was resurrected by his family through the use of artificial intelligence technology to address his killer in court.

As reported by ABC 15 Arizona, Christopher Pelkey was fatally shot by Gabriel Paul Horcasitas in 2021 following a road rage incident in Chandler. Pelkey's family presented an AI-generated video in court during the last month of Horcasitas' trial as part of the victim impact statement. The clip featured Pelkey's likeness and was created after his brother-in-law and sister, Stacey Wales, fed videos of her late brother to an AI model.

"In another life, we probably could have been friends," the fake version of Pelkey says in the bizarre clip. "I believe in forgiveness." The clip features real footage of Pelkey as well as a photo showing him using an "old age" filter. "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 Pelkey continues in the clip. "Remember, getting old is a gift that not everybody has, so embrace it and stop worrying about those wrinkles."

The video, which can be seen above, is evidently AI-generated because it features the strange, rubbery, uncanny valley look that the majority of AI content has. Even if it looks fake, his family suggested it offered closure to the case.

Despite the ethical questions the AI-generated video—which puts words in the mouth of a man who is no longer here to speak for himself—Wales suggested that everyone she spoke to "agreed this capture was a true representation of the spirit and soul of how Chris would have thought about his own sentencing as a murder victim."

The prosecution was seeking a 9.5-year manslaughter sentence for Horcasitas, but Judge Todd Lang was moved enough by the video that he was compelled to sentence him to 10.5 years. "I loved that AI, thank you for that," Lang said. "As justifiably angry as the family is, I heard the forgiveness. I feel that was genuine." Pelkey's brother John said he believes he would have forgiven Horcasitas.