Acosta spoke with an AI-generated model of Joaquin Oliver on what would have been his twenty fifth birthday.

On Aug 4, 2025, ex-CNN anchor Jim Acosta launched an interview that rapidly divided public opinion. In the video, Acosta spoke with an AI-generated model of Joaquin Oliver, a pupil who was killed throughout the 2018 Parkland college capturing. The dialog aired on what would have been Oliver’s twenty fifth birthday.

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The AI mannequin, created by Oliver’s dad and mom, Patricia and Manuel, was constructed utilizing each common details about him in addition to Joaquin’s writing, posts, and spoken phrases. While the digital likeness responded with shifting lips and minimal facial gestures, viewers have been reminded that it was not actual. 

“This is a very legit Joaquin,” stated Manuel, who joined Acosta in a follow-up dialog.

Acosta talks to AI-generated Joaquin Oliver about gun reform

The interview included questions on gun management, which the AI model answered with robotic speaking factors, asking on the finish, “What do you think about that?” Later, the dialogue shifted to lighter matters like basketball and favourite films.

The AI-generated Joaquin expressed robust assist for stricter gun legal guidelines, psychological well being care, and group outreach. It emphasised kindness and empathy as key elements of any answer. “We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making everyone feels seen and heard. It’s about building a culture of kindness and understanding,” the generated video of the sufferer stated, echoing values his real-life counterpart might have held.

Toward the tip of the phase, Acosta and the sufferer’s father mentioned the motivation behind the mission. Although Manuel admitted that nothing might carry again his son, he felt AI gave Joaquin a voice within the ongoing gun reform dialog. “Now, Joaquin is going to start having followers… He’s going to start uploading videos,” he stated. “This is just the beginning.”

This wasn’t the primary time AI had been used to recreate Oliver’s voice. In 2023, a marketing campaign referred to as The Shotline featured AI variations of six gun violence victims, together with Joaquin, making calls to lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

Since dropping his son, Manuel Oliver has remained a high-profile activist. He’s protested at presidential speeches, disrupted Congressional hearings, and even toured the U.S. with a one-man play about Joaquin.

Using AI to maintain his son’s reminiscence energetic is simply his newest transfer. Additionally, he famous that his spouse Patricia generally spends hours chatting with the AI Joaquin, which is doubtlessly regarding given the rise in studies of LLMs sending folks into AI-induced psychosis.

Critics query the ethics of the AI “interview”

Reactions to the interview have been speedy, with the overwhelming majority of individuals discovering the digital resurrection unsettling. Many commenters questioned whether or not utilizing AI in such an emotional context crossed an ethical line.

@ratlpolicy tweeted, “This is genuinely evil. People who have died should stay dead. Reviving them for politics is grotesque.”

Critics on-line voiced considerations about exploitation and consent, particularly because the AI model spoke about delicate political matters. Some argued that Joaquin couldn’t approve or reject the views being attributed to him. 

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