29
votes
Parkland mass shooting victims send AI robocalls to NRA-supporting US politicians
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- Title
- The voices of kids murdered in the Parkland mass shooting are coming back to life with AI robocalls sent to NRA-supporting lawmakers
- Word count
- 1171 words
I hate how much that this is a thing that has to happen. I love that I hate it, and I hate that I love it. Ingenious, and yet a sign of our times, and sadly, our future.
I can't really get behind using AI in this way. Simulation of someone's voice at all after they're dead - but particularly for political points - is pushing ethical boundaries in my opinion. Even if you think that they'd have agreed with what you're making them say, or if their estate/family gives permission, the individual has no way to consent to use of their voice and identity.
The only way this seems okay is if someone expressly gives their consent while alive to use their voice for this specific purpose postmortem.
I understand that we're talking about children who didn't have wills, estates, etc. set up to give consent and that this is an emotionally charged topic - but methods should matter.
While I would normally agree with you in nearly any other context on this, I do believe that making those slimey bastards feel as they should, slimey and uncomfortable, is a net good.
Edit: At the very minimum it will probably push legislation even harder to stop the use of AI vocals in its entirety. It works in two ways here.
AI voice cloning should have been regulated years ago, but it's still not. Child murder is worse, and if using the former is the most effective way to combat the latter, it's one's duty to do it. As you said, net good.
That's a pretty cynical take and I cannot agree, but I understand where you're coming from.
I'm with you on that. Two wrongs don't make a right. If they wanted the same effect, they could have enlisted the help of surviving family members to record a voice message. I'm not sure how much the campaign would help, though it is worth a shot. These types of US politicians usually don't care about the masses who were affected until they experience the issue personally.
I feel like this is just a case of them saying "AI" to garner more attention (which is obviously what they want/need). The recordings could have just as easily been done by a voice actor or some random kid. The people receiving the calls have no idea what the real victim's voice sounds like.
I have to disagree. While they didn't know what the victim's voice sounded like, they do now. That adds a different weight from just some random actor, it's a more direct reminder that there used to be a person who sounded like that. And that particular voice will never be heard again outside of AI.
Also, I find the concept of hiring a voice actor or random kid to make the calls to be a bit more disturbing and offensive than using AI. I can't put into words why I do, it just feels gross to me.
Personally I find both equally disturbing. In both cases you are creating a voice claiming to be a dead person.
Thats true. But it's hard to discount the emotional punch of hearing the literal voice of the dead. I think the main problem is how unlikely it is that anyone except a random intern is hearing these calls.
Either way more attention is good for their cause.
It's not hard to clone a voice, or costly, all you need is less than five minutes of audio and you can make a fairly decent facsimile, and there's a lot of local-first easy to run programs to do it on your computer, or services online with a gracious free plan, or even charge very little.
Agreed, but in this specific case "AI" doesn't add any value. The people answering the phone will have no idea whether the voice is even similar to the actual victim's voice.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet if the call started off with "Hi this is {insert victim name here}...", they wouldn't know who "victim name" is. The call would obviously need to start with "Hi this is {insert victim name here}, one of the victims of the Parkland mass shooting."
The AI voice cloning part is for the press and their audience, not the politicians. The content of the messages presumably starts like you said already.
Yes, that goes back to my original point. The reason they are using AI is to get additional press coverage on this. If they just had a voice actor or some random kid, it wouldn't make as many headlines as "AI".
I think a voice actor would be much more effective than a random kid, but AI necromancy adds a whole extra layer of dystopia.
I'm pretty sure I've read that horror sci-fi story before. Holy shit.