this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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To me this is the equivalent of taxidermying a person then using them as a puppet. Sure it might have a positive impact on some people but it's immoral at best.
This. I don't see how it's any different from making an 'ai video' about a murder victim thanking his murderer for easing his pain, in order to 'make people feel better' after a rich perpretrator games the system and is acquitted via dubious means. It's blatant manipulation.
Wait but no, not like that, only the positive way I see it.
Is it reaaaalllly immoral if the kids just freakin' love it though?
What makes it immoral? Nobody was hurt in any way, physically, emotionally, or financially. They disclosed the use of AI before showing the video. It even helped the perpetrator get a smaller sentence (IMO prison as a concept is inhumane, so less prison time is morally right).
Those were not his words. They were someone else's words spoken by a very realistic puppet they made of him after he died.
That's weird at best, and does not belong in a court.
No doubt it's weird, but it was also a genuine attempt by a sister to speak for her beloved brother. I think it's beautiful and a perfect example of the importance of keeping an open mind, especially regarding things that make us uncomfortable.
So we agree on one point, weirdness.
It’s still got no business in a courtroom.
Why not? It wasn't used to influence the trial in any way; it was just part of the victim impact statements after the verdict was rendered.
Because a judge allowing anyone to represent their views in court as though those views belong to someone else is a textbook "bad idea." It is a misrepresentation of the truth.
So it would've been equally bad if instead of a video, she'd just read a statement she'd written in his voice? Something along the lines of:
Not at all, because it would have been her making claims about what she believes her brother would have said, and not a simulacrum of her brother speaking her words with his voice.
But that's what she did. She was upfront about the fact that it was an AI video reciting a script that she'd written.
You can say that all you want, but when your brain is presented with a video of a person, using that person's voice, you're going to take what's being said as being from that person in the video.
True, many people would have that problem, which is why the context in which the video was shown was acceptable; it was after the verdict had been given.
Such a thing should not impact sentencing, either. The judge allowed it, the judge was swayed by it, it impacted sentencing. This is wrong.
It just feels wrong man. I'm of the belief that we should let the dead rest in peace. Bringing them back through ai or other means fundamentally goes against that. Im also against taxidermy but that's not the debate were having rn. This lands in that category for me. I'm neutral on ai broadly but this is where I draw the line.
"It just feels wrong" isn't a valid basis for morality. Lots of people say the idea of someone being gay just feels wrong. Lots of people say people being non-Muslim just feels wrong.
That must be a touchy point for someone of your username
Oh, I agree that it's creepy and something that could very easily be abused. But in this case, it seems to have been the right move. Whether the dead brother would have approved, we'll never know. But the living sister seemed to earnestly believe he would have, and that's enough for me.