Parents of gun violence victims use AI to recreate their voices in calls to Congress

Parents of half a dozen victims of gun violence used artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate their children’s voices in calls to Congress, urging lawmakers to change the country’s gun laws as part of a new campaign launched on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland shooting.

The Shotline, created by gun control advocacy groups Change the Ref and March For Our Lives, allows people to send the AI-generated voices of six different gun violence victims to members of Congress.

The voice of Joaquin Oliver — who was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. — is one of the six currently on The Shotline website. Oliver’s parents founded Change the Ref in his memory.

“Six years ago, I was a senior at Parkland,” Oliver’s AI-generated voice says. “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.”

“The thing is, I died that day in Parkland,” he continues. “My body was destroyed by a weapon of war. 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?”

The website also features the AI-generated voice of 10-year-old Uziyah “Uzi” Garcia, a victim of the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Garcia’s father, Brett Cross, shared his son’s message in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.

“For 631 days we’ve been Uziyahs voice,” Cross wrote in the post. “Today his voice has a message to all, especially our politicians.”

According to The Shotline website, more than 5,000 calls have been submitted to members of Congress so far.