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Former CNN Anchor Jim Acosta is facing major pushback for an interview he did on his podcast with an AI clone of one of the victims of the 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shootings. The AI was created by Joaquin Oliver's parents following his death.
Now it appears that the AI is being used by Oliver's parents to push for more gun control, with the bot telling Acosta during the interview, "I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and community engagement."
Acosta has now been called out for the stunt by a number of journalists and members of the media, including Curtis Houck with MRC NewsBusters. Houck said, "It's not just awkward, it's grotesque, and even something that his leftist base has ridiculed him for."
Houck says this is the perfect example of all the ethical dilemmas that surround AI and warned that this could just be the beginning of a new era of AI being used in guilt campaigns designed to push political agendas.
He also criticized the substance of the interview itself, saying, "The answers from this AI character of this dead high school student didn't even seem normal, and yet Acosta is enthralled and just went along with this."
Houck also questioned what the limiting principle on interviews like this is, asking, "What's next for Acosta? Is he going to interview an AI Hitler about Donald Trump being worse than he was?"
So far, Acosta has not responded directly to the massive amount of blowback that he's faced for the interview.