Parents of shooting victims are using AI technology to recreate the voices of their children in a bid to get US politicians to strengthen firearms laws.
A website, where members of the public can hear six voices, states the victims “have a chance to speak again” after violence “stole their voices and ended their dreams”.
The Shotline was created by gun control campaigning groups March For Our Lives and Change The Ref and allows people to send the AI-generated voices of the victims to members of Congress.
The campaign was launched on Wednesday on the sixth anniversary of the Parkland school shooting where 17 people were killed in Florida, including Joaquin Oliver, whose voice is one of the six featured on the site. The 17-year-old boy’s parents founded Change The Ref in his memory.
The issue of US gun violence was highlighted again later that same day with a deadly shooting at the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade.
Another of the voices on the website is that of 10-year-old Uziyah Garcia, who was among 19 pupils and two teachers killed in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas in May 2022.
In the minute-long recording, his AI-generated voice reveals a love of video games, making friends laugh, and spending time on the trampoline with his family.
“I’m a fourth grader at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas,” Uziyah’s voice said. “Or at least I was, when a man with an AR-15 came into my school and killed 18 of my classmates, two teachers and me.”
“That was almost two years ago. Nothing has changed. Even more shootings have happened.
“That’s why my family recreated my voice using AI to call you today and demand change. You’ll be getting more calls from others like me, too. What is it going to take for you to help make sure violence like this stops happening?”
