--- title: "Public Horrified by Jim Acosta’s Latest Stunt" description: "Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta drew widespread criticism for conducting an interview with an AI avatar of a school shooting victim." date: "2025-08-05" modified: "2025-08-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/public-horrified-by-jim-acostas-latest-stunt" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "generative ai" - "gun control" - "gun violence" --- # Public Horrified by Jim Acosta’s Latest Stunt ![Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta drew widespread criticism for conducting an interview with an AI avatar of a school shooting victim.]() *\Image: Jim Acosta via YouTube\* Former *CNN* anchor and chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta [drew near-universal criticism]() for conducting an astonishingly tone-deaf "[interview]()" with an AI avatar of one of the victims of the 2018 Parkland school shooting. On Monday, Acosta aired a clip of him speaking to the AI, which was reportedly created by his parents, to send a "powerful message on gun violence." "I appreciate your curiosity," the AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver, one of 17 students and staff killed seven years ago in a mass shooting at Miami-area Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, told Acosta in a robotic tone after being asked what had happened to him. "I was taken from this world too soon due to gun violence while at school." Oliver's recreated face appears jerky and misshapen, an awkward representation of the 17-year-old. Instead of sparking a meaningful discussion about the [tens of thousands]() of annual firearms-related deaths and injuries that occur in the US every year, Acosta's interview was met with widespread outrage. "An animated skin put over a computer model and given the same name as the dead son of grieving parents is a cursed golem and a full delusion," tech journalist Kelsey Atherton wrote in a [post on Bluesky](). "By interviewing the computer model, Acosta has asked us to accept this as true or real. Gun control deserves better." Acosta, who turned down an offer to continue his tenure at *CNN* in January in favor of [launching an independent show](), attempted to drum up excitement for the stunt by claiming his chat with the AI was a "one of a kind interview." What the former *CNN* anchor clearly didn't predict was that his audience was [already primed]() to be wary of tone-deaf uses of AI tech. Observers on Bluesky and X-formerly-Twitter were quick to point out the insensitivity and obliviousness of Acosta's stunt. "This is absolutely deranged," one user [wrote](). "This isn't an interview, there's nobody on the other end — you might as well have a conversation with your microwave." "There are several mythological stories on why this precise thing is bad and wrong," another user [offered](). "This made me uncomfortable," one YouTube account [wrote](). "'I'm not emotionally ready to deal with this form of AI." "Just passed two years without my Mom, and I can't imagine using AI to make a video or photo that never happened," another added. "It's a really dangerous precedent to set for people who aren't dealing with their grief and giving it more power over them than it should." Another user [pointed out]() that "there are living survivors of school shootings you could interview, and it would really be their words and thoughts instead of completely made up." Acosta's stunt isn't without precedent. We've already come across a [family using AI to revive a man]() who was killed during a road rage incident, as well as a [storm of startups]() that claim to let you converse with deceased loved ones. The parents of the victims of the Parkland shooting also used AI previously. Last year, they tried to convince members of Congress by using deepfaked voices of six deceased students and staff as [part of a robocalling campaign](). Acosta's interview was set up with the AI avatar by Oliver's father, Manuel Oliver. "I really felt like I was speaking with Joaquin," Acosta told him in the video. "It’s just a beautiful thing." But whether those stunts will prove convincing enough to address gun violence, one of the [leading cause of death for children and teens]() in the US, remains dubious at best. **More on gun violence:** *[This $48M School Was Designed to Minimize Mass Shooting Deaths]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()