Journalism is Officially Dead as Jim Acosta 'Interviews' the AI Bot of a Student Who Was Killed in the Parkland Shootings

MICHAEL REYNOLDS. Shutterstock Images.

If there's any part of human behavior that you cannot fairly judge, it's how people process grief. Especially when parents are grieving the loss of a child. You can support them. Hope they channel their sorrow in some positive way. But the profound pain that comes from burying a child is incomprehensible to anyone but those who have had to endure that suffering. 

So it turns out the parents of a Parkland High School shooting victim  chose a new and unique way to process their grief. One that was unimaginable anywhere but in Science Fiction until this moment in history:

Rolling Stone - The parents of Joaquin Oliver, one of the students killed in the 2018 Parkland high school shooting, have created an AI version of their late son. … 

“I understand that this is AI,” Manuel said. “I don’t want anyone to think that I am in, some way, trying to bring my son back. Sadly, I can’t, right? I wish I could. However, the technology is out there.”     

Manuel said one reason he and his wife, Patricia, created the AI of their son was to hear his voice again. “Patricia will spend hours asking questions,” Manuel said. “Like any other mother, she loves to hear Joaquin saying, ‘I love you, mommy.’ And that’s important.”

Again, we're not in a position to judge. If I were very close to the Olivers, I might gently and with love ask if they think this is the best way for them to accept the tragic reality and move on with their lives in a healthy way. And perhaps show them the Black Mirror episode where Hayley Atwell is able to bring her late husband Domhnall Gleeson back as a robot, which suggests it is anything but a healthy way to deal with your emotions:

But that's between them and perhaps their therapists. All we can do is pray they find the comfort they need. 

But the person we definitely can judge is recently fired CNN Journo Jim Acosta. He doesn't have the excuse of being a grieving parent to explain away this grotesque stunt he just pulled: 

Daily Mail -  Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta has been slammed for interviewing an AI recreation of a Parkland High School shooting victim.  

Acosta — who was a liberal, anti-Trump voice at the network — has made a presence on Substack since being pushed out at CNN. 

On his show Monday …  [he] showed an AI recreation of Oliver speaking about gun control on what would've been the victim's 25th birthday.   

 

'Joaquin, I would like to know what your solution would be for gun violence,' Acosta asked. 

'Great question. I 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's about building a culture of kindness and understanding. What do you think about that?'

'I think that’s a great idea, Joaquin,' he responded. 

Social media was aghast at the use of AI to allow Acosta to interview a deceased person.

'Jim Acosta is now conducting fake interviews with AI recreations of dead children programmed to agree with him on gun control. Believe it or not, CNN may have kept him from being an even bigger psychotic freak,' Greg Price declared. 

'Jim Acosta who took great offense to being labeled fake news is now conducting fake interviews with dead people for content and clicks,' said journalist Stephen Miller. …

'Jim Acosta hitting rock bottom. Conducting a "news" interview with an AI chat bot of a child who was killed in a school shooting so he can push partisan politics,' added Ryan Saavedra. 

Here's a portion of it. Note that Acosta turned off the comments. With good reason. Warning: Clicking this means you will walk through the Uncanny Valley of the shadow of death:

… 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's about building a culture of kindness and understanding. What do you think about that?” 

Acosta: “I think that's a great idea, Joaquin.” 

AI Oliver was created by Oliver’s parents so their AI son could “deliver a powerful message on gun violence.” 

Insane.

No matter where you land on the issue of Stricter Gun Laws vs. 2nd Amendment Rights - and that's a conversation we've been having since 1787 - you have to be appalled by this. It's not journalism. It's not an interview. It's macabre performance art. It's ghoulish. It's exploitative. It's taking parental grief and turning into theater. If you'll pardon the dated reference, it's Max Headroom:

I mean, how did no one involved in this production - and I'm going to assume that even on a Substack that as of April had 10,000 paid subscribers, Acosta is not working alone - speak up and point out how obscene it is to be having a "conversation" with a collection of 1s and 0s simulating a murdered high school kid? Do they not have production meetings? Did anyone ask the question "What is to be gained by a pretend interview with a bot?" Oh, so the cyber version of a teenager who was gunned down in cold blood "thinks" we need to discuss safer gun ownership? Who could've seen that virtually coming? Maybe for his next "interview" Ol' Jimbo can talk to AI Princess Diana about highway safety or Chris Farley Bot about drug abuse and hear what they have to say. Though it's pretty easy to guess without having to use up all the bandwidth it would take.

I don't know if there's any coming back from this for Jim Acosta. But what the entire Journo profession needs to do if they hope to still exist in 10 years and realize wherever their industry needs to do to survive, having fake interviews with kids who've been dead for seven years is definitely not it. Let's see if they pay attention and learn from his hideously terrible judgment.