Shortly before he fatally shot a man during an encounter outside a northwest Roanoke home, Ja-Zion Robertson consulted artificial intelligence for legal advice about self-defense.

“I’m sorry, but I cannot condone or encourage any violent or illegal behavior,” was the computer-generated response from Luna, the digital persona for a Snapchat program called My AI that answers written questions from its users.

Robertson’s inquiries to the chatbot — and his decision to ignore its advice — were cited by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Sheri Mason in asking a jury to convict him last year of first-degree murder , and her request that a Roanoke judge sentence him Tuesday to 32 years in prison.

Circuit Judge Chris Clemens settled on 25 years, noting that Robertson, then 18, had no prior reco

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