A 74-year-old man stunned a New York courtroom after he tried to use an AI-generated avatar 'attorney' as his legal counsel - and got caught doing it. This video includes ACM-produced voiceover powered by AI.
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00:00May it please the court. I come here today a humble proceeding before a panel of five distinguished justices.
00:06Shut that off!
00:08A 74-year-old man in New York has caused a legal stir after attempting to argue his own case using an AI-generated lawyer.
00:18And the appellant has submitted a video for his argument.
00:26Okay, we will hear that video now.
00:30May it please the court. I come here today a humble proceeding before a panel of five distinguished justices.
00:39Is this, hold on. Is that counsel for the case?
00:42The bizarre moment unfolded in the state Supreme Court's appellate division when judges realized the attorney addressing them in a pre-recorded video was not real.
00:55I generated that.
00:57I'm sorry?
00:58I generated that.
01:00That is not a real person.
01:02The man, Jerome DeWald, admitted he had created the avatar himself because he did not have a lawyer.
01:09The court did not take it lightly.
01:11Okay, it would have been nice to know that when you made your application.
01:15I did.
01:16You did not tell me that, sir. I received the application.
01:20DeWald submitted an apology and was allowed to continue in person, but not before being sternly rebuked.
01:25In the past, you have gone to my clerk's office and held verbal conversations with our staff for over 30 minutes, okay?
01:34I don't appreciate being misled.
01:38So either you are suffering from an ailment that prevents you from being able to articulate or you don't.
01:47You are not going to use this courtroom as a launch for your business, sir.
01:54It follows a series of recent AI-related blunders in U.S. courts, including fictitious case citations and hallucinated rulings,
02:02prompting concern over the growing role of AI in legal settings.
02:06You are unable to shut that off.
02:10If you want to have oral argument time, you may stand up and give it to me.
02:18You have five minutes.
02:19You have five minutes.