Anti-gun activists use AI to recreate voices of mass shooting victims, taunt lawmakers with robocalls

Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin was killed in the 2018 Parkland shooting, are using AI to recreate his voice and taunt pro-gun lawmakers with robocalls.

Families of gun violence victims are using artificial intelligence to recreate their loved ones' voices and taunt lawmakers who oppose gun control on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland massacre. 

The robocall messages are being sent to senators and House members who support the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment rights in a campaign that launched on Valentine's Day, Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Manuel and Patricia Oliver, whose son Joaquin "Guac" Oliver died in the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, said the campaign run through The Shotline website is intended to spur Congress to ban the sale of guns like the AR-15 rifle. 

"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 in an interview. "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 Olivers, immigrants from Venezuela, became activists after Joaquin and 13 other students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School were murdered by a 19-year-old killer with a rifle. Three staff members were also killed in the attack, which shocked the nation. 

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After Joaquin's murder, the Olivers founded Change the Ref, which is sponsoring The Shotline with March for Our Lives, a gun control advocacy group created by Stoneman Douglas students. Both recruit young people through nontraditional demonstrations like the AI calls and "die-ins," where students protested inside a supermarket chain that donated to a pro-NRA politician.

"When you keep being traditional ... listening over and over and over to the same people lecturing you with the same stats, nothing changes," Patricia Oliver told the Associated Press.

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The Olivers and families of five other victims of gun violence gave an AI company audio of their deceased loved ones, which was used to re-create their voices.

A message based on Joaquin's voice identifies him and then says, "Many students and teachers were murdered on Valentine’s Day ... 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."

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It continues, "I died that day in Parkland. My body was destroyed by a weapon of war. I’m back today because my parents used AI to re-create 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?"

Other victims whose faked voices were used in the campaign include 23-year-old Akilah Dasilva, one of four people slain during a 2018 shooting at a Waffle House restaurant in Tennessee, and 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, who died in the 2022 massacre at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school. 

The Olivers were involved in a similar campaign during the 2020 presidential election, when they used AI to create a deep-faked video of Joaquin urging young people to vote for candidates who support gun control. Critics at the time said the campaign was done in poor taste and accused the Olivers of politicizing their son's death.

Manuel Oliver faced criticism for his aggressive style of protest. He uses profanities in speeches and in 2022 was arrested after he climbed a construction crane near the White House, unfurling a banner that demanded President Biden enact stricter gun laws. 

In July that year, Oliver was kicked out of a White House event after he shouted at the president while Biden was speaking. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.