Kicker: Trial and error

NICK EICHER, HOST: So this happened at a New York appeals court last month.

JUDGE: The appellant has submitted a video for his argument.

What played next sounded convincing—for all of three seconds:

AUDIO: May it please the court. I come here today a humble pro-se before a panel of five distinguished justices…

JUDGE (interjecting): Is this— is this—hold on. Is that counsel for the— case?

APPELLANT: I generated that. That, that is— n-not a real person.

What a n-nightmare! The real person is Jerome Dewald. He’s representing himself, but intended AI-generated avatar to do the talking for him. The court was not pleased.

JUDGE: I don’t appreciate being misled. You are not going to use this courtroom as a launch for your business, sir. So if you are able to— to—shut that off!

Remarkably, the judge gave him a second chance.

JUDGE: If you want to have oral argument time, you may stand up and give it to me. [I apologize.] You have five minutes.

The moral of the story? In court, your case must be real—and it’s a good idea if you are, too.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

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