Voicemails to lawmakers are a common campaigning tool, but activists are adding an unsettling twist by employing AI to create them in the voices of gun murder victims who have already died.
March for Our Lives and Change the REF’s gun control campaign, TheShotline.org, is requesting that people all throughout the country use AI to call the legislators in their zip code.
Among the six victims of gun violence included in the voice memos are victims of mass shootings, suicide, and individuals like Ethan Song, a 15-year-old from Connecticut who died in 2018 after an unsecured gun accidentally shot him. The computer-generated version of Ethan’s voice gives a condensed version of his story about his love of helping humans and animals and how he can’t “help anyone in need anymore.” Then, abruptly, it becomes an impassioned call for lawmakers to “finally do something to protect kids from guns” and a stern warning to politicians that they risk losing their seats if gun reform laws aren’t approved.
The groups fighting for gun reform are keeping their fingers crossed that the disturbing recordings will drive Congress to approve stricter gun laws, including a ban on assault rifles.
According to Brett Cross, a father of one of the victims featured on Shotline.org, “I want these politicians to sit there and listen. I want them to imagine that that’s their children’s voices, because they didn’t do anything to prevent countless children being slaughtered.”
Republican Maxwell Frost of Florida expressed his deepest sympathies with the AI-generated audio, describing it as “heartbreaking” and “uncomfortable.” That, he continued, was the main idea. Feeling uneasy is the point.
Naturally, the majority of Democrats have long advocated for stricter gun control laws. On the other hand, Republicans are still not too convinced. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who has also been contacted by the hotline, has stated that his Republican colleagues constitute “the primary obstacle” to enacting robust legislation addressing gun safety.
A Republican from Tennessee named Tim Burchett has spoken out against what he sees as the possibility of artificial intelligence being too regulated. He called out TheShotline.org, calling it “fraudulent” and stating that the calls wouldn’t lead to any systemic change.
The office of Burchett has received calls like these, she told AWN. “The best way for citizens to have their voices heard is to communicate with their representatives in government.”
“His voice was so really moving,” Blumenthal remarked on a message from 15-year-old Ethan Song on TheShotline.org. For the sake of moving forward, I’m crossing my fingers that it will jolt a few of my coworkers. Ninety percent of Americans agree with these gun reform initiatives, and Ethan is just relaying their message.
To hear Blumenthal’s thoughts on this application of AI, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, view the video.
