Lawmakers Are Getting Calls in Voices of Shooting Victims

Joaquin "Guac" Oliver died in the 2018 Parkland, Florida, high school massacre, but federal lawmakers who oppose tighter gun regulations began getting phone calls in his voice on Wednesday, lambasting them for their position. The families of Oliver and five others killed with guns are using artificial intelligence to create messages in their loved ones' voices and robocalling them to senators and House members who support the NRA and oppose tougher gun laws, the AP reports. The protest is being run through the Shotline website, where visitors select which offices receive calls.

The campaign launched on Valentine's Day because it's the sixth anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, which left the 17-year-old Oliver, 13 other students, and three staff members dead. Oliver was murdered as he lay wounded on the floor, the fatal bullet blasting through the hand he raised as the 19-year-old killer leveled his AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. Manuel and Patricia Oliver, Joaquin's parents, say the campaign is based on the oft-cited idea that if someone wants laws changed, the first step is calling elected representatives.

Immigrants from Venezuela who became US citizens, they want the sale of guns like the AR-15 banned. "There's a reason for the gun violence in a Third World country," Manuel Oliver says. "There's no reason for the gun violence and the amount of victims in the United States." To make the recordings, the Olivers and other families gave an AI company audio of their loved ones and it re-created their voices, changing tone and pattern based on relatives' suggestions.

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Joaquin's AI 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." 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?" (More Parkland school shooting stories.)