By John Q. Hosedrinker 
Jim Acosta, former CNN correspondent, interviewed an AI-generated avatar of Joaquin Oliver, a victim of the 2018 Parkland school shooting, sparking significant controversy. The AI avatar, created by Oliver’s parents, provided a stilted and computerized response about gun violence, highlighting the limitations of current AI technology. The interview received criticism for potentially exploiting the deceased and for utilizing AI recreations of victims, particularly considering the availability of living survivors. Despite the controversy, Oliver’s father expressed appreciation for the AI recreation, which represents one of several instances where AI has been used to represent Parkland victims.
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The very idea of Jim Acosta interviewing a “made-up” AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver, a victim of the Parkland shooting, is, frankly, just plain ghoulish. The technology is still clunky, with imperfect movements and voices, and the ethical minefield it opens up is immense. We’re talking about creating digitized versions of real people, and letting them stand in for the deceased. This paves the way for misinformation, deepfakes, and all sorts of deceit, making it practically impossible to distinguish between what’s real and what’s not.
But let’s get real, does this whole “work in progress” aspect really need to be the central focus here? I understand that Joaquin’s parents, the ones who actually spearheaded the creation of this AI, might have done so seeking some comfort or peace. And honestly, I am not a mental health professional, so I really couldn’t say if this is a healthy way to cope or not. But regardless of the family’s intentions, it feels incredibly wrong, a bit disgusting to “reanimate” someone for this kind of interview. It already felt off-putting to see it done for actors, and even though that was fiction. This is a real person who was murdered. It just feels so damn wrong.
The fact that this all came about with Jim Acosta, is, in itself, almost absurd. He’s the former chief White House correspondent for CNN, now an independent journalist. It’s jarring to see someone who held such a prominent role in news reporting taking part in something like this. The whole situation just feels… off.
And, what’s next? Podcast interviews with AI Jeffrey Epstein? That’s the direction this is heading, isn’t it? The victim’s father apparently found solace in “hearing his voice again”, and is looking forward to what more AI can do. And that, is where it gets truly sad. Grief-stricken parents creating AI bots of their deceased children might be one of the least healthy coping mechanisms I’ve ever seen. It’s unfiltered insanity. I prefer my dystopia in fictional print, this is not what I signed up for. Is this now what passes for journalism?
I’ll take “Things absolutely nobody fucking wants” for $1000, please, Alex. Wtf is wrong with people. Stop this now. I guarantee in the future people will take as gospel anything you put in the mouth of an AI recreation. Like people will assume because it’s an AI it has near clairvoyant knowledge of what happened. So fucking gross. Disrespectful. Connecting with AI is very much like dealing with fake people, who are only interested in interacting with you to better their own situation or take advantage.
I do not feel like it is a worthwhile endeavor to try to use these peoples likeness for any reason, good or bad. This is bullshit. It just distorts reality even further. Shouldn’t happen, it’s not facts, it’s not evidence. The families of the deceased should be interviewed instead of making a mockery of the situation using a chatbot as a representative of the dead. This is so fucking disgusting. Shame on them.
AI is going to be a plague on the world. It’s going to surveil us at the microscopic level while we’re alive and when we finally escape it with death, it will pretend to speak for us. No journalist with a modicum of professionalism or integrity would pull a stunt like this. We are truly living in an episode of Black Mirror. Gee, I wonder why he got fired from CNN? The fuck are we doing?!
Perhaps we’ll need to start adding this officially to our end-of-life preferences along with DNR and organ donation stuff. *Dear family and medical staff: do no resuscitate or keep me alive if I’m totally brain dead. You have permission to harvest any of my viable organs so that others may live. Do not make an AI version of me.* And in addition, the largest, if not only, source of a person’s communication to mine would be their Reddit comments and other social media. So our AI representations will be the most asshole-ish versions of ourselves.
I have to say, this is that Black Mirror episode come to life. We’ve come a long way since Ouija Boards. Please AI regulations come on what even is this? I’m kind of surprised Acosta would think this was an interesting idea since he knows AI isn’t good enough to make this any more than a puff piece. You could make an AI of one of the most prolific people to ever exist and at best it is a search engine with a very specific vocabulary that sometimes makes up lies. It isn’t anything close to a recreation of Aristotle, we are not getting new information or insight from the chatbot. This ain’t it Acosta. What a bad decision. Why are conservative people so damn evil???
This was done at the instigation of Joaquin’s parents. His parents created the AI and wanted the interview. Everyone was aware that this was AI. But it shouldn’t have happened. I don’t think there was an attempt to fool anyone here. The parents wanted this to happen, and Acosta, who is no longer at CNN, went with it. Thank god I stopped watching CNN. There’s been some work on using AI to help people with trauma and grief. Like an AI version of an attacker for victims. (They can confront safely) Or for those struggling with the death of a loved one. It’s an ethical gray area at best.
I could see it having use in therapy if someone is having trouble with grieving. But putting it on the news…. “Live Forever as You are Now” is no longer parody. I don’t think it’s a healthy coping mechanism to make a weird empty robo clone of your murdered child on the internet. I get it, of course, grief makes you do wild shit, especially when it’s such a shocking situation, but still… Black Mirror did this. Hint: It’s devastating.