Judge questions sincerity of A.I.-written apology in arson case

Judge Tom Gilbert of the district court in Christchurch said he was troubled after discovering that apology letters from a defendant in an arson case had been written with the help of artificial intelligence. The defendant had pleaded guilty to arson and other charges, and remorse can be a mitigating factor in sentencing.

“Out of curiosity I punched into two A.I. tools ‘draft me a letter for a judge expressing remorse for my offending,’” he said, according to a transcript of the sentencing hearing. “It became immediately apparent that these were two A.I.-generated letters, albeit with tweaks around the edges.” He added that he was not criticising the defendant’s use of A.I., but that “simply producing a computer-generated letter does not really take me anywhere as far as I am concerned.” The episode feeds a wider discussion about outsourcing personal communications to machines, from apologies to eulogies and wedding vows.

Jim A.C.

New Zealand, Christchurch

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