The anti-gunners lobby launched a new campaign to convince the public that more firearm restrictions are needed.
March for Our Lives and Change the Ref have launched a joint campaign that uses the voices of school shooting victims recreated using artificial intelligence. According to reports, the groups use the technology to send audio recordings to members of Congress that feature the voices of victims recreated by artificial intelligence.
This audio is part of a campaign that was launched by two groups last week, March for Our Lives, and Change the Ref to encourage lawmakers to take action on gun control.
“My wife has been using her voice for six years. Nonstop. We’ve tried every possible way to get people to pay attention when it comes to gun violence.” “We haven’t had much success,” says Manuel Oliver who founded the Change the Ref group to honor his son following the Florida shooting of 2018.
“So we decided, you know what? Let’s bring the voices of our loved ones. Let’s bring the voice of Joaquin.”
One of the children whose voice was used in the video was tragically killed during the shootings in Uvalde.
Uzi Garcia, 10, died in May of 2022. He is one of six children that are featured in this campaign.
Uzi’s AI voice in his message says, “I love playing video games, making jokes and my friends laugh as well as jumping on the trampoline together with my family.” “I am a fourth-grader at Robb Elementary in Uvalde.” Or I was when a man carrying an AR-15 entered my school and killed 18 of my students, two teachers, and myself. It was nearly two years ago. It’s been almost two years and nothing has changed. “Even more shootings have occurred.”
Brett Cross, Uzi’s father, told CNN that he spent countless hours on his phone searching through old videos of playgrounds to find the audio of Uzi’s voice. He said he worked closely with the technology team of the campaign to ensure the pitch was perfect and that he listened over and over to Uzi’s AI voice before he approved its use.
He says, “It’s bittersweet that we can hear his voice once again.” “But he shouldn’t be here, he isn’t.” We have to be more creative to get politicians to listen.
The use of AI technology to chill children has not only added a new dimension in gun control advocacy but also caused controversy and criticism although the parents of these children had given their consent.
Some people may have ethical concerns about using AI voices to control guns.
Robert Wahl, associate professor of computer sciences at Concordia University Wisconsin who is an expert in the ethics of AI technology says: “It seems to kind of straddle that line between a good usage of AI and something questionable.”
He says that creating AI voices involves a complex process. It requires numerous adjustments to ensure the inflections, timing, and pitch sound as natural as possible and are not robotic.
He told CNN that Hollywood had been recreating actors who were dead for some time. “And the technology is changing almost daily.” It’s nice that you can recreate a voice as long as the family is okay with it.
Other parents have expressed their discomfort at the trick, calling it “ghoulish”, according to the parent involved. Imagine how it would be for us to hear my son’s voice every day, he said.
This new strategy by the antigunner lobby could be an effective weapon for the antigunners, despite its disturbing nature. The emotional appeal of a campaign like this could be used to great effect.
The fact is that no gun control law that progressives propose whenever there is an event like a mass shooting could have saved these children’s lives. Criminals will commit gun crimes regardless of the laws.
It is even more regrettable that those who are looking for solutions to these tragedies will be distracted by the constant focus on gun control laws. These parents and children are exploited instead of looking at other options and security measures that could work.
