Altered States Of Evidence: How Deepfakes Are Challenging Digital Evidence In Courts

While much ink has been spilled on the troubling incidents of counsel using AI-hallucinated cases in their legal submissions, there is also reason to be concerned about the use of evidence created by generative artificial intelligence (“AI”).

Digital evidence like photos, videos, and voice recordings which are tendered as evidence of facts (for example, photographs of damage) are often admitted without rigorous scrutiny. If someone can testify that they took that picture or video, the triers of fact tend to believe what they see.

However, with the growing advancements in AI and the shockingly realistic nature of deepfakes, seeing is no longer believing, and there is a risk of parties submitting AI-generated evidence without disclosing it to the court.