A New Zealand judge made the defendant in an arson case pen letters of apology, then he used artificial intelligence to draft. That judge, Tom Gilbert of the district court in Christchurch, adjudicated the case of Michael Ngaire Win, who had burned down her rental property and assaulted the first responders who arrived on the scene to administer aid.
Win was living in Christchurch when she "took a rope and put it in the fireplace, then trailed it out onto the floor to various piles of clothing which led to her bedroom," the New Zealand Herald reported. "Win also used a lighter to set fire to the clothes, and then lay down in her bed." She broke a window in her room and climbed out after her scheme became too "unbearable."
She went back in a few minutes later to get her weed and some pants, then went back outside, and asked people to help. Police showed up to try to help, she told them she didn't care about her crime. A few months later she stole license plates and put them on her car.
She later staged a fake scenario claiming she's been assaulted and then threatened and attacked police, spitting on the paramedics who tried to help her. Once arrested, she bit an officer's arm and told the officer she had AIDS.
Win was sentenced to house arrest and told to pay for some of the damage. She moved in with her parents for the house arrest and her attorney said she quit drugs but has not saved money to pay for any damages.
Gilbert's remarks on the nature of the "remorse" letters were detailed in a transcript of the sentencing hearing. "Out of curiosity," Gilbert said, "I punched into two A.I. tools 'draft me a letter for a judge expressing remorse for my offending. It became immediately apparent that these were two A.I.-generated letters, albeit with tweaks around the edges."
He went on to say "But certainly when one is considering the genuineness of an individual’s remorse, simply producing a computer-generated letter does not really take me anywhere as far as I am concerned."
Win admitted to using A.I. to draft the letters when she was called out by Gilbert and questioned on the witness stand. "Is it clear these letters were generated by A.I.," he said after Win's attorney Cindy Lee claimed that Win had written the apology letters herself. Win admitted that she'd used A.I. to "help."
Lee said "with the advent of technology, I think people don't need to be blamed for using it." She went on to claim that not all defendants are able to write letters or find the right words.
Gilbert didn't buy it, saying the use of A.I. to craft letters of remorse "undermines the sentiments" of those messages.
Win was living in Christchurch when she "took a rope and put it in the fireplace, then trailed it out onto the floor to various piles of clothing which led to her bedroom," the New Zealand Herald reported. "Win also used a lighter to set fire to the clothes, and then lay down in her bed." She broke a window in her room and climbed out after her scheme became too "unbearable."
She went back in a few minutes later to get her weed and some pants, then went back outside, and asked people to help. Police showed up to try to help, she told them she didn't care about her crime. A few months later she stole license plates and put them on her car.
She later staged a fake scenario claiming she's been assaulted and then threatened and attacked police, spitting on the paramedics who tried to help her. Once arrested, she bit an officer's arm and told the officer she had AIDS.
Win was sentenced to house arrest and told to pay for some of the damage. She moved in with her parents for the house arrest and her attorney said she quit drugs but has not saved money to pay for any damages.
Gilbert's remarks on the nature of the "remorse" letters were detailed in a transcript of the sentencing hearing. "Out of curiosity," Gilbert said, "I punched into two A.I. tools 'draft me a letter for a judge expressing remorse for my offending. It became immediately apparent that these were two A.I.-generated letters, albeit with tweaks around the edges."
He went on to say "But certainly when one is considering the genuineness of an individual’s remorse, simply producing a computer-generated letter does not really take me anywhere as far as I am concerned."
Win admitted to using A.I. to draft the letters when she was called out by Gilbert and questioned on the witness stand. "Is it clear these letters were generated by A.I.," he said after Win's attorney Cindy Lee claimed that Win had written the apology letters herself. Win admitted that she'd used A.I. to "help."
Lee said "with the advent of technology, I think people don't need to be blamed for using it." She went on to claim that not all defendants are able to write letters or find the right words.
Gilbert didn't buy it, saying the use of A.I. to craft letters of remorse "undermines the sentiments" of those messages.
