Seeing is not always believing. That’s proving to be true, specifically, with how prevalent artificial intelligence has become. It’s suspected of even making its way into Miami-Dade courtrooms. 7’s Courtney Allen investigates. Roy Miller says he was prepared for the possibility of courtroom drama when he filed this lawsuit, accusing people of publishing defamatory statements about him online. But he wasn’t expecting this — Roy Miller, involved in lawsuit: “Suddenly, you have Nicholas Cage arguing a case.” A Nicholas Cage lookalike appeared during a virtual Zoom hearing, claiming to be a cyber specialist, to object to a subpoena in the case. Ai-suspected video: “Do you hear me well, because it sounds a bit strange.” His words and mouth didn’t match. This is the cell phone video Miller took of the Zoom hearing on his computer. Ai-suspected witness on video: “I would like to…” Roy Miller (interrupting): “Your honor, this sounds like a deepfake.” Miller says he interupted the hearing because he believed what they were watching was an AI-generated video. Roy Miller: “I was in shock.” The judge ended the hearing after the individual on screen was “unable to produce any identification.” In court paperwork, the judge noted “AI?” This happened in 2023. Miller says he’s bringing it to light now because AI technology has gotten much more advanced since then. Roy Miller: “I think that if you had the same hearing today, he may have been able to pull it off.” Legal professionals are concerned. They say the shift to virtual hearings during COVID, combined with the emergence of AI, is creating the perfect storm. Or Cohen-Sasson, director of Miami Law and AI Lab: “Most of the tools today are generating 4k videos, not something like that, so it will be very hard to kind of detect or distinguish if that’s real or not.” Or Cohen-Sasson is the director of the University of Miami Law and the AI Lab. He showed us how easy it is to create fake content using free, legal tools. Or Cohen-Sasson: “This will create an avatar of you, a video avatar of you, and also will clone your voice.” He took a recent voicemail I left him and combined the voice with this photo of me he found on Google, and made a fake, completely computer-generated video of me on set. AI version of Courtney Allen: “Thank you and goodnight! Oh! I hate this job! What is wrong with this camera, man?” Or Cohen-Sasson: “OK, so you definitely didn’t say that.” Fellow Miami law professor Christina Frohock says it’s not just about fake videos showing up in court. AI could make jurors question the reality of everything they see and hear in trials. Christina Frohock: “If jurors just don’t believe videos in front of them anymore because there are too many hoaxes out there, so why should they believe this one? If they don’t believe written testimony, because anything could have generated that. If they don’t believe the existence of witnesses. Everything starts crumbling.” Attorneys say they’re now changing the way they handle cases. Alex Almazan says he’s developing new skill sets to check the format, metadata, and other characteristics of all content in a case. Alex Almazan, attorney: “If you are my opposing counsel, and you provide evidence that we are taking a look at, that we absolutely feel is not authentic or generated improperly, or it looks great, but it is on us to verify that it is, that is the burden that the lawyers must have.” A spokesperson for Miami-Dade Courts told us: “There are legal procedures in place for judges, attorneys, or parties in a case to challenge the authenticity of evidence.” We showed the attorney and the professors we spoke with the suspected AI video. Or Cohen-Sasson: “Oh, you can see that that’s…” Christina Frohock: “This is Nicholas Cage! OK, that’s clearly fake.” Alex Almazan: “That’s amazing that somebody thinks they would get away with that.” Miller agrees. Which is why he filed this motion for sanctions against the attorney he believes is behind the ai-suspected video. Roy Miller: “The consequences for me as a litigant are very upsetting because you are trying to get justice. You are waiting such a long time.” The judge still hasn’t ruled on the motion for sanctions, and the case is ongoing. Just last month, the Miami-Dade Chief Judge issued an order that all attorneys and self-represented litigants must disclose any AI used to the court, like using AI tools for case preparation. Courtney Allen, 7News. ...read more read less