{"id":60624,"date":"2025-08-05T17:10:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T17:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/60624\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T17:10:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T17:10:08","slug":"jim-acosta-interviews-ai-parkland-shooting-victim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/60624\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Acosta Interviews AI Parkland Shooting Victim"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tJim Acosta<\/a>, the former CNN chief White House correspondent who now hosts an independent show on YouTube, has published an interview with an AI-generated avatar of Joaquin Oliver, who died at age 17 in the Parkland school shooting in 2018.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe interactive AI was created by Oliver\u2019s parents, who granted Acosta the first \u201cinterview\u201d with the recreated version of their son on what would have been his 25th birthday. Oliver was one of 17 people killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.<\/p>\n

\n\tAcosta asked AI Oliver about his solution for gun violence, to which the avatar responded: \u201cI believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support and community engagement. We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard. It\u2019s about building a culture of kindness and understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe avatar added, \u201cThough my life was cut short, I want to keep inspiring others to connect and advocate for change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAcosta then asked AI Oliver about his personal life, such as his favorite sport and favorite basketball team. The two discussed the movie \u201cRemember the Titans\u201d and their favorite \u201cStar Wars\u201d moments.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter a five-minute chat with the AI, Acosta then connected with Oliver\u2019s father, Manuel Oliver. \u201cI\u2019m kind of speechless as to the technology there,\u201d Acosta said. \u201cIt was so insightful. I really felt like I was speaking with Joaquin. It\u2019s just a beautiful thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tManuel, who has been an outspoken voice in the push for gun control, said he believed bringing \u201cAI Joaquin to life\u201d would \u201ccreate more impact.\u201d According to Manuel, the avatar is trained on information on the internet as well as things Oliver wrote, said and posted online. He said he wanted to make it clear to viewers that he is under no illusions about reviving his son.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI understand that this is AI. I don\u2019t want anyone to think that I am, in some way, trying to bring my son back,\u201d he said. \u201cSadly, I can\u2019t, right? I wish I could. However, the technology is out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tManuel said they created the AI, in part, so that he and his wife Patricia could hear their son\u2019s voice again. \u201cPatricia will spend hours asking questions,\u201d he said. \u201cLike any other mother, she loves to hear Joaquin saying, \u2018I love you, Mommy.’\u201d They also launched this project so that Oliver could have a voice in conversations around gun safety. \u201cNow, Joaquin is going to start having followers\u2026 He\u2019s going to start uploading videos. This is just the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tManuel said he is excited about the future of the project and what it means for his son\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat\u2019s amazing about this is that we\u2019ve heard from the parents, we\u2019ve heard from the politicians. Now we\u2019re hearing from one of the kids,\u201d Acosta said. \u201cThat\u2019s important. That hasn\u2019t happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tManuel said he plans to have AI Oliver \u201con stage in the middle of a debate,\u201d and that \u201chis knowledge is unlimited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAcosta\u2019s interview comes one year after a gun control campaign<\/a> recreated the voices of six Parkland victims, including Oliver\u2019s, using AI. The messages were circulated online and sent as direct calls to federal lawmakers. In the years following the Parkland shooting, Manuel has been on the front line of gun control advocacy. In 2022, he interrupted a televised speech by Joe Biden celebrating the passage of gun control legislation, which Manuel criticized as too moderate. And in 2023, Manuel was arrested after interrupting a congressional hearing on the Second Amendment with his wife, Patricia. Manuel also created a one-man show about grief that he performed across the country.<\/p>\n

\n\tWatch Acosta\u2019s interview below.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jim Acosta, the former CNN chief White House correspondent who now hosts an independent show on YouTube, has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[182,181,507,45305,74],"class_list":["post-60624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-jim-acosta","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}