Wasn't it the parents who made the AI version???

I'm pretty sure had the boy lived, he would have had a lot of things to say. Since many of these answers were taken from his personal writings, what better way to give a voice to the victims. Acosta knew, I'm sure, that he was having a conversation with an avatar.

Anyone doing anything with AI will not get a scintilla of my attention. Period.

When news is all about ratings, you get news that's all about ratings.

Now do Sandy Hook. Or, ask George Washington what he thinks of air conditioning. So many possibilities.

Not appropriate especially hurtful to his parents.

Damn. Is it just one big contest to be cringe? It sure generates clicks for the oligarcha!

He should be embarrassed but I no longer believe he's capable of it.

I find it a little creepy, but if his parents see this as a way to fight gun violence then who am I to question their good intentions. Something needs to change the conversations. If this provides that change then more power to them.

Unfortunately, it won't. What it WILL do is open the floodgates to more AI/Deathmasks being produced. Pretty soon it'll be Robin Williams pushing 'Roid creme.

Probably true. 😪

Jim Acosta speaks to the dead. What’s your superpower?

Not a fan. It's ghoulish and contemptible.

Weird and pointless.

Seriously, dear friends: Uncle George became famous, made millions happy, co-creating a movement: based on fantasy, CGI blue screens and whatever else the "AI" was used in the Star Trek movies. People cherish him like Sulu all day long; and he's using that "AI" realm to spread good will, boldly.

The Victim's DAD is sharing the AI of his son, ok? The AI comes from them. I commend Jim Acosta for a controversial representation of a murder VICTIM and the grieving parents on an urgent issue. Bless these parents for whatever it takes to show that PEOPLE kill PEOPLE like their wonderful son.

I do not think that people are ever going to want to consume A.I. the way people in tech circles keep telling me they are going to.

Ghoulish

Ghoulish!

Acosta has lost his mind.

AI is going to doom civilization. Worse thing ever invented after social media and the internet.

Yikes. How did he think this was a good idea?!?!?!

What in the actual fuck? 😬🤢🤮

HORRIBLE

Fuck AI

This is disgusting and offensive. It completely disrespects the person, and spits in the face of their family.

Jim... 👇

This kind of thing is disrespectful and dangerous.

Seeing that the parents wanted this then what is the issue

It's the future of journalism and it is grim.

I like Jim but I don't really understand this move unless he just needs the money. I just don't get it.

Stunt is the correct term for this.

It's wrong!

Deadly Idolatrous.

Beyond the revulsion I feel at the whole concept, 'interviewing' a computer program designed to emulate a person gives both influence and deniability to the person in control of that program - they can have it push whatever agenda they want, while claiming "It's the AI's conclusions not mine".

this does feel "off" as he is not "interviewing" a person, but an algorithm generating answers based on its use of LLM. So, no he did not interview the purported subject in question. a better tack would have been to interview the parents, and let them respond to what they think

My thought is that any use of AI is ridiculous and damaging to the environment. I wonder how many tons of CO2 he put into the atmosphere for this worthless exercise.

Perhaps well-intentioned, ill-informed

First, it seems to diminish this fellow's death, as if he has been brought back from the dead. Second, how is interviewing a computer image, programed to say what you want, interesting or informative? It is unusual and new. But the same could be said for a fresh turd from a dinosaur.

If this decision was made by the family that let it be…..it’s none of our business why they did it. Hope people respect them regardless. Nothing in this world can be harder to lose a child because no one in Congress was able to ban assault weapons for their own stupid reckless negligence…

Could not watch, Weird AF, and in many ways disgusting and disturbing. Whoever thought this was a good idea needs a serious thinking adjustment

It feels iffy to me. AI can't, and shouldn't, be necromancy or a seance. AI isn't those we've lost. I understand what makes having AI do this be so tempting. To talk to those we love one last time is a human dream. But it's not real. The holes left by the missing matter as much as their lives did.

I mean. He could've interviewed one of the surviving victims. Something meaningful. And not disgusting.

The living and the dead are victims whose voices deserve to be heard.

It's not going to be the dead person's words and opinions in this case, it's just someone else's sick words.

What? Why?

It was bad and he should feel bad about it.

It felt very odd but as his father created it, I feel that this was something his dad felt was important. AI imaging is more than a bit creepy and could so easily be misused.

The dad shouldn’t have been allowed to do this. You can’t take organs off a corpse without their prior permission, so this shouldn’t be allowed either.

Creepy and stupid and the word ignorant just won't leave my brain

Ghoulish.

Insensitive at best and puppeteering a dead child for clout/a sign of the amoral manipulative tactics of AI companies at worst

Wrong on essentially all levels?

necromancy is real, just not the way we expected

His dye job is atrocious...

This is sick

I'd say watch the whole thing and the follow up with the kids father before jumping to conclusions.

Same as the trial. I don’t like it it’s disrespectful to the dead, BUT it does prove a point so long as everyone involved is aware it’s not really him… which I wanna note is also disrespectful but this time on my part. Doesn’t take away that school shootings are bad and we should stop them if we can

If that was my family member I’d be all over him for damages.

That's weird, and creepy, and if I were him I'd have refused to do it just on the basis that it's crass and potentially upsetting for the family. I think he lost some credibility with this stunt. If he was honest about what it was, he lost *some*. If he wasn't and left it up to you, he lost *all*.

I thought it was in very poor taste, and actually rather creepy. I also think it took no small amount of hubris to believe someone else -especially AI- could know what this young man would think, believe, answer...

I’m not sure what he was trying to accomplish. Testing ai capabilities? It’s an odd choice of subject. I don’t think it was a good idea

Mmmm digital revenants having scripted conversations with their digital necromancer like a weird obedient electrozombie Not really a thing we want, I suspect, as a serious thing. Probably not even for parody/satire either. Tasteless stuff.

I note the parents seemed happy with it so you might be able to downgrade tasteless to wrong-headed but still a very odd choice given that there's living survivors with their actual own opinions

Disgusting. But the full-scale embrace of AI is really sickening in general.

Digital pet cemetery, anyone??

That is fucking GRUESOME. The thought of that is horrifying

It was a stupid idea, poorly executed, and his producer letting him do it suggests they hate him.

Creepy although if his family approved it, then it should hopefully make people think. Probably not though, nothing else seems to make people give a shit about the weekly gun violence in the US

Although I am personally against AI and doing this, the parents were the ones who created the avatar to keep their son’s memory alive. They asked Acosta to do the interview and he obliged their wishes being good friends. People have a right to grieve how they wish even if we disagree.

I’d sue his ass. Let’s never forget the power of Emma Gonzalez. youtu.be/M6VnYXv2grU?...

It’s incredibly creepy and also sad that we don’t have consent laws for this sort of thing. What can this be doing to his surviving family?

Horrifying. I get his parents are grieving but this is a ghoulish and disrespectful way to deal with that. It's also only a matter of time before we start hearing about bigoted parents using this tech to build facsimiles of the kids they want as opposed to the trans kids they disown.

If the parents were part of it then what's the problem..

Ghoulish, bizarre and extremely bad taste. As others have said, there are many living survivors who could be interviewed. Their words are important and should be heard.

We've gone full Victorian and have brought back the seance charlatans.

As every D&D player knows, Speak with Dead never works like you expect.

I told my husband we need a new section in our estate plans. No AI avatars.

I'm speechless. AI could not even put words into my mouth right now. 🫢

This reminds me of when Tupac appeared as a hologram at Coachella. I find this disrespectful to the dead person. Let them rest!

..

As if the world wasn't absurd enough. No, this cannot, and should not be a thing. They have plenty of Parkland Survivors they could have easily talked to. Instead of this ghoulish shit.

Imagine ignoring living victims for someone puppeteering a dead child and putting words in his mouth that he never said because of the novelty 😰

Reprehensible abomination. Like Tapper and Cuomo, Acosta should not be considered a "journalist." He is a stenographer AT BEST - a phony, chasing clicks like a dude-bro with a new podcast. No legit media should ever think this is acceptable. If you want to help save democracy, you must be truthful.

Was Tupac not available?

x.com/ChangeTheRef...

This is a use of AI concepts that I thought of a couple of years ago for writing a cyberpunk detective novel. Now I can see the dystopian potential that I didn’t before, when I couldn’t figure out where to go with the plot.

Creepy

Ghoulish.

It's an AI that wasn't really built from his thoughts being used as a face for arguments we have already made. I supposed the parents had their say so that is what it is but I personally would only use something that the deceased themselves signed off on. Especially when it's just a skin suit

I think digital remnants might be useful & good in certain situations and this is a stage of the technology that is clearly functionally lacking and ethically questionable but there are living survivors and this isn't something to make stunts about. But I'm not going to talk over the actual family.

Whoa....on this video. The victims family created the AI image. Not Acosta. It was arranged by the family of their son.

Absurd

It's very explotative, even if his parents are okay with it. The reason is not the ai image of a deceased individual but thinking you can speak for them by literally putting your words and views into their mouth. Using any victim for your agendas is wrong, especially if they are dead.

My thoughts: Fuck right off with this shit, Jim. Disgraceful.

Not ok

This is why journalists can no longer be trusted. Meanwhile clowns like Dumpsterfire Donald are laughing because it makes it so much easier for them to get their message out…

Thoroughly disturbing to use his image for such a stunt, the dead cannot talk, and assuming what they might say based on what they had written when alive is not an accurate representation of the person lost to a heinous crime, these AI regenerations need to be banned...

Initially, I thought it was in poor taste, but after reading more, I think it is an excellent way of getting people to discuss the benefits of #GunControls. x.com/manueloliver...

Who is the asshole that told Jim this is gonna be great! 🤬

This is a look at our future and I think it's unstoppable unfortunately.

It was just a bad and awkward interview IMO. It wasn’t his idea. The AI did not sound real at all. Jim is great and let’s move on.

This isn't journalism. It's fraud.

Just. Gross.

No on so many levels. This should’ve never been done never been thought up just absolutely no.

He got torched on here for it. The post was rightly ratioed to Hell. Interview the LIVING victims. There are plenty of them.

I respected him a lot until now, but this stunt was gross on all levels and I'm out.

Hideous and demeaning!

The Fourth Estate is dead.

I would like to know what he was thinking, doing this? Creepy.

This is worse than mediums pretending they can contact your dead loved ones.

Even if you can do a thing, perhaps you choose not to do that thing. I’m not going to watch it.

It’s ghoulish

Not for me but I’m not on the overreact to everything panic train. An AI victim I believe was recently played in court maybe as an impact statement(?). (Facts = fuzzy) Acosta is a stand up guy. Don’t judge everyone by what you perceive as their worst moment. Unless it’s #epsteintrump bc fuck that

Sick and twisted. But with AI existing and no regulations surrounding this subject, it is what it is. Humans will always abuse technology. Last time we saw a change this big was with the introduction of social media. I don’t think the world is ready for the fallout of unregulated AI.

It's ghoulish and ill conceived. It violates the very notion of rest in peace. It also stinks that tech companies are now Mediums holding seances.

Such a cruel stunt that his parents/family are subjected to for what, ratings?

Inappropriate, disturbing and distasteful.

I watched the interview and "Bizarre" is the correct term for it. I believe Mr. Acosta was being kind to that young man's father to say he felt as though he was talking to his son. In no way shape or form can you put in enough information into a computer to replicate a person. A.I. has no soul.

So gross.

It's akin to interviewing Grok about the same issues. It's just an AI with the likeness of the victim, and it doesn't even mimic the actual cadence of a person talking. It's just bad text-to-speech and he should feel bad about it.

it’s absolute garbage

Macabre. Distasteful. Disrespectful! WTF happened to Acosta??

Fuck AI

The fact that he agreed to it in the first place is a deal breaker for me. I legit do not care that the parents were involved or signed off on it, and I cannot believe it's psychologically healthy for them to do this.

We need AI legislations like yesterday

Fire everyone involved, shun them, and never do it again.

Artificial is apropos regarding the “intelligence” of using AI to have relevant dialogue re: gun safety. Why have an Artificially generated conversation when you can have a real one with real people?

Absolutely distasteful and disrespectful of the dead and their families.

Opportunistic theatre. Awful.

From the parents perspective I see wanting to preserve the memory of their son. However, as an interview with a reporter, I find that creepy. I would not watch it. I know AI is the future, but I am not ready to fully embrace all aspects of it.

Giant nope

It's so gross. I don't think there is any combination of words that could convince the people that are okay with this that it's just weird and wrong

Good idea, but unfortunately, bad people don’t always like good ideas

Good idea??

To let a dead victim of gun violence appear to speak out as if still alive.

No it is not a good idea

Why?

It’s desecrating the dead to be your mouth piece. Without their consent too.

OK, I understand your position. I meant no disrespect whatsoever towards the dead. I’m in favour of just about anything that will stop the gun violence in the US.

I think it was done at the request and with cooperation of his family. Do I like It? Nope - so I didn't watch it. Nothing else to think, is there?

The family shouldn’t have that right.

Doesn't matter what they shouldn't have, they DO have that right whether you like it or not.

Jim didn’t have to interview this abomination.

See above that it was at the invitation of the family. The family who lost their son in a massacre. I choose to focus on the fact that nothing's been done to prevent it happening again. Why aren't you?

Jim could have refused the invitation. Jim could have interviewed the living victims instead. There is plenty of those! He could have interviewed the parents themselves.

Then I suggest you discuss it with him.

AI voice overs are cringe enough as it is.

I saw a clip of the interview. His dad was also part of the interview and behind it completely. It feels creepy and wrong.

GenAI is a garbage gimmick and this was the same trash as the rest of it.

How to go from respected journalist to hack in 10 minutes.

Is Jim struggling for attention?

Ok ok.. Jim Acosta is really getting thrashed in the comments, myself included. I’m gonna give him the benefit of the doubt, I think that he’s NEVER encountered AI before and was smitten by how clever it is

I’ve talked to AI bots on this site and their speaking style is distinct and easy to detect. Listening to Jim’s interview with the AI gun-victim I’m like..“Jim..how can you fall for this?” Ask ANY Ai bot the same questions and you get the same replies. Also.. it was creepy. The parents should let go

Proposed follow-up: Someone needs to record an interview with an AI-generated representation of Jim Acosta’s abused, abandoned, and now likely alcoholic journalistic integrity.

😵‍💫

What a vile abuse of the victims and their families to fictionalize and then sensationalize the identity of a victim all for money.

I like Jim Acosta, but was creeped out by promo clip so I didn't watch it. Only @jimacosta.bsky.social can explain his thinking, but I believe it was prompted by Acosta's deep empathy for the parents & their unrelenting grief. He gave them a platform on their terms. So skip it if you don't like it.

Thank you! Yours is the first comment, among all the indiscriminate knee-jerking, that reflects my own thoughts on the matter.

Jesus christ that's horrible! They can't get permission! Absolutely not

Is Acosta real or AI?

Dumb stunt from a trash journo desperate for attention and relevance.

Let the dead rest.

Beyond the pale. Journalism has jumped the shark.

Imagine what the family, friends, and fellow survivors are feeling after this stunt?

Gun violence in the US is an extremely important and urgent topic to tackle, but not like this. Using the image of someone who can't consent to express views which are not wholly their own isn't compatible with what I consider ethical. I fear this Acosta interview may have done more harm than good

Totally agree

creepy and weird

He went from Fake News to interviewing Fake People. He's grasping at straws and only the paper straws.

Umm, no.

That's just wrong on so many levels.

That's so messed up, on so many levels 😭 I couldn't imagine seeing one of my late loved ones being used in an AI interview, talking so plainly and bluntly about their violent passing.. It seems incredibly disrespectful.

It's a stunt, plain and simple. Performative and utterly devoid of substance, and it makes a mockery of the suffering and death of the actual victims of school shootings. It's Jim using the social media virality of anything with "AI" in the post so he can get eyeballs and sponsors. Shameless.

Ghoulish at best Frankly, reminds me of some anti-abortion stuff, (if mommy hadn't killed me); just because the reasoning is something "we" might "agree with" (wanting action gun violence/legislation) doesn't make the tactic suddenly acceptable. AI doesn't know WTF the dead would think nor say.

I greatly respected Jim Acosta until this stunt. I think it's not only morally wrong to digitally resurrect someone and put words in their mouth — but it's also ethically wrong for a journalist to "interview" anyone whom they know isn't the actual person.

About as classy as interviewing a hologram of Tupac Shakur.

Overall I agree with you. But the parents obviously gave permission. They were there and stand by it. We don’t know how this helped them deal with their loss. I’m sure the words put in his mouth were those of his family and the change they hope their son’s death will help bring about.

What in the world?

The parents pushed for it. Blame them for all of this nonsense. I know they’re grieving, but this is not the way to do it.

Jim didn’t have to accept their proposal.

I’m not sure AI generated conversations with gun victims sends the message the parents think it does. It makes them look like opportunistic ghouls. I can only imagine their pain. Maybe if they honor his life without reanimating him. Because our soul, heart, being is what makes us unique.

He should brush it off! Not even an issue when we are dealing with the imbecile and his clowns’ f-ups and forced chaos from our White House!! Not news - keep it moving!

Yeah, it’s news. This is just another example of the underhanded B.S. regarding AI creation of “characters” that led SAG-AFTRA to strike recently. It’s not just tasteless, it’s a test run to see what producers can get away with.

This interview changes nothing. It’s emotional voyeurism, not news. Move on to what actually helps.

Do you need help with reading comprehension? No, I will NOT fucking move on. Your cover photo is of the Star Trek TOS cast. Pushing this AI bullshit will lead to “new” TOS episodes with no compensation for the families of cast members dead or living. You OK with that?

You just proved my point. Using AI to exploit the deceased —whether Parkland victims or Star Trek actors —is unethical. No consent, no compensation, just corporations profiting from digital graves. If you’d fight against Paramount deepfaking Nimoy w/o his family’s “ongoing” control and payment,…1/2

….you should “equally”reject CNN deepfaking a mass shooting victim. This isn’t ‘news’ —it’s a dangerous precedent that hurts real people. That’s why ethical journalism moves forward without it! 2/2 ///////////Excuse delay - I have family in town!!///////////////////

Reject unethical tools - move forward! Not real news!!

Using AI to resurrect trauma for views? That’s not reporting. It’s tech-enabled exploitation.

YES. And that’s EXACTLY WHY IT’S NEWS. It’s exploitation, it’s piracy, and it needs to be exposed - meaning IN THE NEWS - for it to be stopped. I’m a SAG-AFTRA member and this affects me and my work. And I will fight this until my last breath.

This is creepy as fuck. I hate it.

Stupid, insensitive and crass idea. Even for American news media, this is the pits.

creepy af

This just in: my toaster believes I should keep the bread in longer. (It’s already burnt cause I left it in too long as is)

Didn't his family approve?? Stoo making issues of non issues it was a powerful message

Waste of time. What’s next, a round table with Hitler, Stalin & Kissinger?

Creepy, in-human, disgusting, putting gun-control lip stick on an AI slop pig.. and also..

I’m more mad he and his classmates died senselessly.

didn't know about this interview won't watch it and give it a view imho wrong on every level even if it was done by The Onion as a parody/joke

This is not journalism. AI can only simulate it cannot give a real answer for a dead person.

Creepy. And sets a bad precedent. An AI can’t know how a human, in all their complexity, would behave based on a few instagram posts and high school essays. It’s not a good road to go down.

It was not a good idea.

Very macabre, but his parents helped generate it.

I don’t care if they help, they were wrong too.

"...what?" seriously, i have no comprehension for that. honour and dignity of journalism on the one side, on the other... that?

This ain't it.

Not comfortable.

Wow, thats awful. I hope he at least had the permission of the family.

His family supports it... but it's what his family WANTS to believe he would say & behave. Sure, MAYBE he would. But MAYBE the incident would have turned him into a gun nut & MAYBE he would hate sports now. It's disgusting to project your own beliefs through the dead. Let them rest in peace.

Project your own beliefs based on YOUR OWN trauma & loss. You don't need to "resurrect" your dead son & make believe he would be exactly what you force him to be to satisfy your own sense of loss... that kind of control seems too MAGA-like.

And the more they use this homunculi, the more it poisons the memories of their REAL son they still have. Use it too much and you’ll only remember the sound of the AI not their real voice.

This is disgusting.

So many living victims of social abuse, rape and gun culture violence that it makes this a glove puppet necrophilia gimmick show. Putting words into the mouths of the dead is never ethical.

AI bots aren’t real no matter how big Elon makes the boobs on his nazi waifus

High foreseeable own goal

This was together with the parents of the victim with intent to lobby. So that goal was met.

Abhorrent

The father generated this AI. It’s not Acosta himself that made this. Sheesh, people… He gave a grieving father a platform to spread awareness (which is likely the father’s goal with this)

Next week I'll be interviewing my fridge

You say that but our fridge claims to have "AI energy". Had I noticed this sooner it would not be our fridge. No, I am not giving it our wi-fi password.

now that sounds artsy and interesting tho

I don't like it. That's all I'm gonna take time to say.