Overview

• On Aug. 4, former CNN correspondent Jim Acosta published on Substack a filmed interview with an AI-generated avatar of Joaquin Oliver timed to the teen’s 25th birthday.
• The digital recreation, trained on Oliver’s writings and online posts in partnership with the advocacy group Change the Ref, urged stronger gun-control laws, mental health services and community engagement.
• Viewers and commentators across social and traditional media labeled the segment unsettling, exploitative or grotesque and raised broader concerns about AI deepfakes.
• Manuel and Patricia Oliver defended the project as their initiative to keep their son’s voice alive in the gun-control movement and said they plan further AI-driven messages and appearances.
• Ethicists and researchers warn that AI reconstructions of deceased individuals require robust consent protocols and transparency to prevent misuse.