AI Voice Of Slain Parkland Shooting Victim Used In Gun Reform Calls

PARKLAND, FL — On the sixth anniversary of the deadly Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, artificial intelligence helped six families recreate their slain students' voices in calls to lawmakers urging action on firearm laws, media reports say.

The Hill reported Wednesday the purpose of the AI use was to advocate for gun law reformation at the national level. Online site The Shotline is leading the efforts, the outlet reported.

The AI-generated voices of six gun violence victims have been used in 5,000 calls to members of Congress, The Hill said. That includes the voice of Parkland victim Joaquin Oliver.

“Six years ago, I was a senior at Parkland. Many students and teachers were murdered on Valentine’s Day that year by a person using an AR-15. But you don’t care. You never did. It’s been six years, and you’ve done nothing, not a thing to stop all the shootings that have continued to happen since,” Oliver’s AI-generated voice says, as reported by the National Public Radio.

The message continues: "I'm back today because my parents used AI to recreate my voice to call you. Other victims like me will be calling too, again and again, to demand action. How many calls will it take for you to care? How many dead voices will you hear before you finally listen? Every day your inaction creates more voices. If you fail to act now, we'll find somebody who will."

The parents of Joaquin Oliver spoke to The Associated Press about the widespread campaign.

“We come from a place where gun violence is a problem, but you will never see a 19-year-old with an AR-15 getting into a school and shooting people,” Manuel Oliver told The Associated Press. “There’s a reason for the gun violence in a Third World country. There’s no reason for the gun violence and the amount of victims in the United States.”

The shooting killed 14 students and three staff members on Feb. 14, 2018, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. The 19-year-old convicted gunman, a former student, was sentenced to life in prison in connection with the fatal shooting.

Other AI-recreated voices include 10-year-old Uzi Garcia, who died in the 2022 mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; 15-year-old Ethan Song who was killed by an unsecured handgun in a friends home in 2018; Jaycee Webster, a 20-year-old killed in his home by a lone gunman; Akila Dasilva, a 23-year-old who died in a mass shooting at a Waffle House in Tennessee in 2018; and Mike Baughan, who died by suicide after he purchased a gun in less than 15 minutes, NPR said.

Listeners can visit theshotline.org to hear the voices of shooting victims whose families are taking part in the effort, click a button and send an AI-generated call to congressional offices

Read more via The Hill and The Associated Press.