Daniel and Victoria are two new reporters covering news at the Arizona Supreme Court in Phoenix, and they earn no salary.
Both reporters are young, fresh-faced, and vibrant, designed as electronically imaged video “avatars.”
On March 11, the state’s highest court introduced the AI-generated duo to boost community engagement and keep the public informed about case decisions, opinions, and other news.
In a first for the court system, officials say this initiative aims to enhance the court’s efforts to help the public understand Arizona’s judicial system and the administration of justice.
“By providing timely updates directly from the court, we help ensure you have accurate information about important legal decisions affecting Arizonans.
“My colleague Daniel and I will be bringing you regular updates on court rulings, legal developments, and public services.”
Communications Director Alberto Rodriguez said the court’s information technology team developed and customized both avatars to be “ethnically ambiguous.”
“The public’s response has been very positive,” Rodriguez told The Epoch Times.
While there have been some misconceptions where people believe the avatars create their own content, they do not, Rodriguez told The Epoch Times.
“We do not rely on the system to develop content—we write scripts and the avatars read them. Once the public understands that it’s not generative AI, they seem to be more at ease with the use of this innovative technology.”
The court initially considered producing brief videos to accompany case decisions and news releases, but timeliness became a significant factor, according to the court’s written announcement.
“By implementing AI-generated avatars, the court achieved similar results in significantly less time.”
Daniel and Victoria will take turns reporting court news on azcourts.gov and across all social media platforms, which many Arizonans use for news and community updates.
Since October, the court has been issuing news updates to accompany its case decisions and opinions. These updates summarize the cases and clarify the thought process behind the rulings.
The court said it plans to expand its video content and AI personalities to include access to justice projects, community programs offered by the courts, and additional civics-related information of interest to Arizona residents.
Alex Voica, the head of corporate affairs at the professional AI video creator Synthesia, which is based in London, England, said that the company believes it’s a great idea for organizations to adopt video as a communication format.
Video is more engaging and provides richer context compared to text, Voica said.
“It’s also a more faithful representation of how humans communicate,” Voica told The Epoch Times.
“You can lose a lot of context when you use text while video allows you to deliver a message in the appropriate tone such as excitement if you’re selling a product online or empathy if you’re delivering medical information.”
