A defendant tried to use an AI avatar in a legal appeal. It didn't work

Date: 2025-04-06

A defendant in a New York appeals court has been slammed by a judge for using an artificial intelligence avatar to represent himself in a recent case. A New York appeals court faced an unusual situation in late March when Jerome Dewald, representing himself in an employment dispute, submitted an AI-generated avatar to present his legal arguments via video, a livestream of the hearing shows. It’s the latest example of artificial intelligence tools trickling their way into courtrooms. Within seconds of the video starting, Justice Sallie Manzanet-Daniels called for it to stop, asking whether the avatar was counsel for the case. “I generated that,” 74-year-old Dewald responded, adding, “That is not a real person.”The judge appeared displeased, ...

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