Arizona Supreme Court taps AI avatars to make the judicial system more publicly accessible

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona's highest court has created a pair of AI-generated avatars to deliver news of every ruling issued by the justices, marking what is believed to be the first example in the U.S. of a state court system tapping artificial intelligence to build more human-like characters to connect with the public.

A court in Florida uses an animated chatbot to help visitors navigate its website, but the Arizona Supreme Court is charting new territory with the creation of Victoria and Daniel. Made of pixels, the two avatars have a different job in that they serve as the face of news coming from the court just as a spokesperson made of flesh and blood would do — but faster.

The use of AI has touched nearly every profession and discipline, growing exponentially in recent years and showing infinite potential when it comes to things as simple as internet searches or as complex as brain surgery. For officials with the Arizona Supreme Court, their venture into AI is rooted in a desire to promote trust and confidence in the judicial system.

There was a protest outside the state Capitol last April and calls for two justices to be booted after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a Civil War-era law that banned nearly all abortions, except when a woman’s life is in jeopardy, could be enforced. Emotions flared on both sides of the issue.

When Chief Justice Ann Timmer took over the court last summer, she made public trust a key pillar of her platform. She had been thinking for a few years about how to reach out to the public using digital media. Among the rulings that helped solidify the idea that the court needed to play a more active part in the public's understanding of opinions were the abortion decision and another that clarified how unwed fathers could establish parental rights.

“We serve the public better by saying, OK, we’ve issued this decision," she said. "Now, let us help you understand what it is.”

Timmer told The Associated Press earlier this year that if the court had to do the abortion ruling over again, it would have approached the dissemination of information differently. In a Wednesday interview, she said that a news release and avatar video could have helped the public better understand the legal underpinnings of the lengthy decision — possibly including what it didn't do, which she said some misunderstood.

“We got a lot of backlash for it and probably deservedly so, in terms of how can we complain that people don’t understand what we did when we didn’t really do enough to give a simplified version," she said in the January interview, explaining that people want to know the basis for the court’s decisions and what they can do, such as lobbying state lawmakers for whatever changes in law would support their positions.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a repeal of the ban last May, and in November, Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment expanding abortion access up to the point of fetal viability.

Created with a program called Creatify, Daniel and Victoria in a way bring to life the court's news releases. Videos featuring one or the other are being posted for every ruling by the high court, and may be used for Access to Justice projects, community programs and civics information in the future.

The court has been sending out releases since October to summarize and explain rulings. After seeing success with the releases, it began exploring options to convey that information through video.

The AI-generated avatars were the most efficient way to produce videos and get the information out, said court spokesperson Alberto Rodriguez. Producing a video usually can take hours, he said, but an AI-generated video is ready in about 30 minutes. The court might introduce more AI-generated reporters in the future, Rodriguez said in a news release.

The justice who authors the legal opinion also drafts a news release, the wording of which must be approved by the entire bench. The justice then works with the court's communications team to craft a script for the avatars — the avatars aren't interpreting original court decisions or opinions, Rodriguez said.

Daniel and Victoria's names and physical appearances were designed to represent a wide cross-section of people, Rodriguez said. He said they aren’t meant to come off as real people and the court emphasizes their AI origins with disclaimers. The court is exploring different emotional deliveries, cadences and pronunciations as well as Spanish translations for the avatars, Rodriguez said.

Mason Kortz, a clinical instructor at the Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, described the court's new cyber employees as "quite realistic." While their voices might give them away, he said some people could be fooled into thinking that Daniel and Victoria are real reporters if viewers are only reading the subtitles and looking at the characters' movements and facial expressions.

Kortz also said it would be better for the language of the disclaimer that is in the videos' text description to be featured more prominently.

“You want to make it as hard as possible for someone to advertently or inadvertently remove the disclaimer,” he said.

Asheley Landrum, associate professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, said the avatars feel robotic. She said a format that mimics real dialogue and storytelling might be more engaging than an AI reading of a news release.

“Because it’s not just about using AI or even creating videos,” she said, “but about doing so in a way that really resonates with audiences.”

Still, it's fine line. She said engaging characteristics can help to build trust over time but the danger is that content could appear biased.

Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ann Timmer, second from left, and David Byers, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts, listen as the Arizona Judicial Council discusses the high court's new use of AI-generated avatars that are used to relay information to the public on Thursday, March 13, 2025., in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Sejal Govindarao)

The Arizona Judicial Council discusses the Arizona Supreme Court's new use of AI-generated avatars that are used to relay information to the public on Thursday, March 13, 2025., in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Sejal Govindarao)

FILE - A man enters the Arizona Supreme Court building, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — McNeese coach Will Wade and his boombox-toting manager gave March Madness its first bracket buster.

The 12th-seeded Cowboys used a stifling first half to open a 24-point lead, and then held off late-charging No. 5 seed Clemson for the program's first NCAA Tournament victory, a 69-67 win in the opening round of the East Region on Thursday.

“We have broken every record in the book," said Wade, who led the school to its first back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament and now its first victory. “This was the last one to get. We want to keep this going. We want to keep this going.”

McNeese earned a matchup on Saturday with fourth-seeded Purdue, a 75-63 winner over High Point earlier in Providence.

Brandon Murray scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half, when the Southland Conference school from Lake Charles, Louisiana, held Clemson to 13 points. After falling behind by as many as 24 in the second, the Tigers rallied, erasing most of a 12-point deficit in the final minute before running out of time.

“We went out there and took the first punch and they didn’t know how to react to that, honestly,” Murray said. “Coach tells us to be ourselves, play with swag. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Chris Shumate added 13 points and 11 rebounds for McNeese, which has been best-known this March for its viral, rapping manager and a renegade coach who has reportedly already lined up his next job — at NC State.

The Wolfpack will have to wait at least another 48 hours, because Wade is still needed in Providence.

Wade celebrated by running into the stands join the McNeese crowd — though even the neutral observers were rooting for the Cowboys against the Tigers from the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference. When he arrived in the locker room, his players doused him with water.

“Coach Wade made this plan. This is not something that started just now,” guard Quadir Copeland said. “This is something that’s been a goal the whole way and it's been amazing.”

A 7½-point underdog, McNeese (28-6) held the Tigers to one basket over almost eight minutes during a 17-2 first-half run that turned a tie game into a 23-8 lead. After Clemson (27-7) scored the first three points of the second, the Cowboys ran off nine in a row and led by as many as 24 points.

Jaeden Zackery scored 24 points, Chase Hunter had 21 and Viktor Lakhin grabbed 10 rebounds for Clemson before fouling out with six minutes left in the game.

The once-feared ACC is down to two teams: No. 1 seed Duke and North Carolina, one of the last teams in. No. 8 seed Louisville lost to ninth-seeded Creighton in another of the tournament's first games.

With 70 seconds left, Javohn Garcia blocked Zackery twice on the same shot and Shumate streaked toward the basket for the long pass and reverse dunk that gave the Cowboys a 12-point lead.

But Zackery hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to make it a nine-point game, Jake Heidbreder hit one to cut the deficit to six, and then, after Sincere Parker’s reverse dunk brought the crowd to its feet, Zackery hit another 3 to make it 67-62.

After McNeese missed a free throw — one of six missed foul shots in the final six minutes — Chauncey Wiggins hit a long 3 to make it a three-point game. Another missed free throw gave Clemson the ball with 10 seconds left, down four.

Hunter drove to the basket, but scored as time expired.

Wade was fired from LSU amid an investigation into recruiting violations, and he took a year off before returning to Louisiana at McNeese. In two seasons, he has led the Cowboys to their first back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

Teams have gone cold before – 11 of them have been held to a baker’s dozen or fewer points in the first half – but Clemson is just the second one to do it when seeded fifth or better since the shot clock era began in 1986.

Clemson was 1 for 15 from 3-point range in the first half and made just five baskets before the break.

The Cowboys head into the Purdue game with a 9-5 record in nonconference games this year, including two losses to SEC teams in the regular season. Under Wade, they are 1-0 against the Big Ten, beating Michigan in Ann Arbor last year.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.

Clemson guard Jaeden Zackery, left, react after a loss to McNeese State in the first round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Providence, R.I. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)