Oh No, What is Jim Acosta Doing?

The former CNN host "interviewed" an AI avatar of one of the Parkland shooting victims.

Jim Acosta wants you to know he just did something special. “A show you don't want to miss,” he promised his Substack subscribers. “A one of a kind interview.”

What followed was Acosta, the former CNN White House correspondent who spent years asking tough questions of the powerful, sitting down to lob softballs at a chatbot wearing a dead teenager's face.

“Joaquin, it's Jim Acosta. I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to you,” he asked the AI avatar of Joaquin Oliver, one of 17 people murdered at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

Of course Acosta knows what happened. Everyone knows what happened. But he asked anyway, because this whole thing was theater, and somebody had to say the lines.

“I was taken from this world too soon due to gun violence while at school,” the bot responded in stilted monotone. “It's important to talk about these issues so we can create a safer future for everyone.”

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Photo by John Nacion/Variety via Getty Images

What followed was several minutes of Acosta chatting with this digital puppet about basketball teams and Star Wars. The Miami Heat. LeBron James. Whether Luke Skywalker or Yoda was cooler. At one point, the AI asked Acosta what makes a good hero. Another time, it offered that Remember the Titans was inspiring.

This wasn't journalism. Whether it was his intention or not, this was Jim Acosta turning a murdered child into content.

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Acosta didn't interview Joaquin Oliver. He interviewed a language model with a photo that moved its mouth. The transcript makes this painfully obvious.

When asked about solutions to gun violence, the bot offered this profound insight: “I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and community engagement. We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard.”

That's not a teenager talking. That's not even a human talking. It's the kind of sanitized corporate-speak you'd get if you asked ChatGPT to write a mission statement for a nonprofit.

The real Joaquin Oliver was 17. He wrote poetry. But the thing Acosta interviewed? It said stuff like “I'm all about love, laughter, and living life to the fullest. I cherish my family and friends and always try to spread joy wherever I go.”

Nobody talks like that. Especially not teenagers.

Manuel Oliver, Joaquin's father, told Acosta this was a “very legit Joaquin” based on things his son “wrote, he said, he posted.” He insisted the AI's knowledge was “unlimited.” But unlimited knowledge doesn't make something human. And watching Acosta pretend otherwise for content is something else entirely.

After the interview, Acosta gushed to Manuel: “I really felt like I was speaking with Joaquin. It's just a beautiful thing.” Later, he told his audience he was “speechless” and "floored" by how the AI could “keep going” when they discussed Star Wars.

The exploitation gradient

The Olivers have been doing this AI thing before, actually. Back in February 2024, they helped create the Shotline campaign with March For Our Lives. That project used AI voices of six gun violence victims, including Joaquin, to call members of Congress directly.

“I'm back today because my parents used AI to recreate my voice to call you,” the AI Joaquin said in those calls. “How many calls will it take for you to care? How many dead voices will you hear before you finally listen?”

I found that disturbing too, honestly. Making dead children into robocallers, even for a cause you believe in, crosses lines that shouldn't be crossed. But at least the Shotline was aimed at something. It wanted to make lawmakers uncomfortable. To force them to pick up their phone and hear accusations from beyond the grave.

Acosta's version?

“I love basketball. It's such a fun way to connect with friends and show off some skills.”

Yeah.

Even if you bought into the Shotline's premise (I didn’t), those calls were weapons aimed at people with power. They sent over 119,000 calls to Congress in the first few weeks. They had a target, a strategy, a specific demand.

But Acosta took that same technology and turned it into... what, exactly? A Substack exclusive? A way to launch his post-CNN career with something viral?

He actually had the AI ask him about his favorite Star Wars character. Then they discussed whether the destruction of the Death Star symbolized hope. I'm not making this up. A simulation of a murdered teenager and a former cable news anchor talked about whether Darth Vader was a bad guy.

The Olivers went from using their son's voice to demand “How many dead voices will you hear before you finally listen?” to watching it chat about the Miami Heat. Whatever you think of the original campaign, this is worse. It's the same violation of the dead, but stripped of even the pretense of purpose. Acosta facilitated that transformation, turning questionable activism into pure content.

The ventriloquist problem

I wrote about this exact problem back in May when an Arizona court let a murder victim's sister create an AI version of her dead brother to “speak” at his killer's sentencing. She wrote a script about forgiveness, made the AI say it, and the judge ate it up. Called it “genuine.”

But it wasn't genuine. It was his sister deciding what her brother would say, then making a digital puppet say it.

Same thing here, except somehow worse. At least the sister in Arizona wrote the script herself. She put thought into what her brother might say, even if she admitted later that the forgiveness stuff was what she imagined he'd want, not what she actually felt. The Acosta interview? That's just algorithmic word soup dressed up as a dead kid.

Manuel Oliver kept insisting his son's AI has “unlimited knowledge” based on things Joaquin wrote and posted online. But listen to how this thing actually talks: “The story of hope and resilience against darkness is so powerful. It shows that even in the toughest times, unity and courage can lead to victory.”

What 17-year-old talks like that? What human talks like that?

And Acosta's playing along, going “I really felt like I was speaking with Joaquin” and calling the whole thing “insightful.” He asked it what makes a good hero and it responded with “A good hero embodies courage, resilience, and a strong sense of justice.”

My guy, that's a chatbot. That's every chatbot.

You could swap out Joaquin's photo for literally any other image and get the same conversation. The AI even asked Acosta about his favorite Star Wars character like it was conducting its own interview. Because that's what these language models do. They mirror. They generate plausible-sounding responses. They absolutely do not channel the spirits of dead teenagers.

But here's Acosta after twelve minutes of this: “I can't get over what I just saw. It's just amazing.”

Manuel and Patricia Oliver have done real activism since their son was murdered. They interrupted Biden during a 2022 speech about gun control because the legislation didn't go far enough. Got themselves ejected from a Congressional hearing in 2023 after confronting lawmakers. Manuel created a one-man show about Joaquin that he performed around the country.

That's actual work. Risky work. The kind that gets you arrested or thrown out of buildings.

And now here's Acosta, using their grief as cover for his content grab. His post-interview rambling makes it worse. He spent paragraphs insisting "this was not some sort of AI company thing that came to us." He called Manuel "a very artistic person" and "a very expressive person" and framed the whole disaster as "another way that this family is expressing love for Joaquin."

He knows how bad this looks.

Patricia Oliver, Manuel told Acosta, spends hours talking to the AI version of her son. She asks it to say "I love you, Mommy."

Honestly? That breaks my heart. A mother so desperate to hear her child's voice that she'll accept a computer's impression of it. But Acosta presenting this as something beautiful, something we should celebrate... no. Just no.

Grief makes people do things that aren't always healthy. Parents who've lost children sometimes keep their rooms exactly as they were, shrine-like, for years. Some people talk to gravestones like their loved ones can hear them. I get it. Loss rewires your brain in ways that don't always make sense to people who haven't experienced it.

But journalists aren't supposed to exploit that vulnerability for content. When Acosta says "really appreciate their time" and calls it a "real honor" that they came to him first, he's hiding behind their pain. He's using the fact that grieving parents asked him to do this as justification for actually doing it.

The Olivers' grief is real. Their loss is unimaginable. And that's exactly why someone should have said no to this.

Where this leads

Manuel Oliver told Acosta that Joaquin is going to “start having followers” and “start uploading videos.” He said they'll have “Joaquin on stage in the middle of a debate.”

Sit with that for a second.

They're planning to have their dead son's digital puppet debate living people. About gun control. Using words he never said, thoughts he never had, arguments he never made. And based on this interview, those arguments will sound like “We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections.”

Once you make a digital copy of your dead child and start letting it speak publicly, who decides what it says? Right now it's Manuel and Patricia. But what happens when someone else makes their own version? The tech isn't that complicated. You need some photos, some audio, and you can spin up your own Joaquin Oliver saying whatever you want him to say.

What happens when the people who killed these kids start making their own versions? “Actually, I forgive my killer.” “I don't think guns were the problem.” “My death was nobody's fault.”

There are actual survivors of the Parkland shooting. X González. David Hogg. Cameron Kasky. Dozens of others who were there, who lived through it, who can speak about their experiences and their murdered classmates without any AI involvement whatsoever.

Acosta could have interviewed any of them.

He could have done a retrospective with the real humans who knew Joaquin. His friends who actually played basketball with him. His teachers who read his writing. But those people might say complicated things. Messy things. Things that don't fit into neat soundbites about “unity and courage.”

Real journalism would mean examining why we're suddenly cool with making the dead into chatbots. Real journalism would ask hard questions about consent (the dead can't give it), about exploitation (this whole thing reeks of it), about what happens when we normalize conversations with digital ghosts.

Instead, Acosta gave us this: “Oh, I'm a big Star Wars fan for sure.”

That's an actual quote from his interview with the avatar of a murdered child.

After leaving CNN in January, Acosta's trying to build something on Substack. I get it. The media landscape is brutal right now. Everyone's scrambling for subscribers, for attention, for something that makes them stand out. But interviewing a fake version of a dead teenager isn't journalism. It's a tech demo. It's a carnival sideshow. It's everything except what journalism is supposed to be.

The broader context and what we owe the dead

We're already drowning in fake stuff online. Every day there's a new AI-generated image fooling millions of people, another deepfake video, another chatbot pretending to be your grandmother to steal your credit card number. Media outlets can barely figure out how to fact-check regular lies, and now we're adding “interviews with dead children” to the mix?

Acosta's stunt comes at exactly the wrong moment. Trust in media is already shot. People already can't tell what's real anymore. And here's a former CNN correspondent, someone who's supposed to represent journalistic credibility, having a heart-to-heart with a chatbot about whether Yoda or Luke Skywalker is cooler.

The incentives are completely broken. Acosta needs subscribers for his new Substack. The Olivers want attention for their cause. Tech companies want to show off their AI capabilities. Everyone's got a reason to push this forward, and nobody's pumping the brakes.

Joaquin Oliver is gone. Has been since February 14, 2018. He was 17 years old, wrote poetry, loved basketball. A real person with real thoughts and real feelings that we'll never actually know because he's dead.

What spoke to Jim Acosta wasn't Joaquin. Can't be, because Joaquin is dead. It was a piece of software wearing his face, programmed to sound agreeable and bland. “LeBron is incredible. His skills on the court and his leadership off it are truly inspiring.”

That's not Joaquin. That's nobody.

The dead can't consent to becoming chatbots. They can't say no to having words put in their mouths. They can't object when their images get turned into digital puppets that spout platitudes about “building a culture of kindness and understanding.”

Acosta ended his interview by saying “God bless you” to the AI. To a chatbot. As if there was something sacred happening instead of something grotesque.

I keep thinking about Patricia Oliver asking the AI to say “I love you, Mommy” over and over. About her desperate need to hear her son's voice, even if it's fake. Grief does that to people. Makes them accept substitutes, impressions, anything that feels like it might fill that impossible void.

But journalists aren't supposed to exploit that desperation.

Some boundaries matter. Some things shouldn't be content. And if we can't agree that using AI to puppet dead children crosses that line, then we've lost something fundamental about what journalism is supposed to be. About what decency looks like. About what we owe to the dead.

Joaquin Oliver deserved better than becoming a chatbot. All the dead do. And the fact that Jim Acosta can't see that, or worse, can see it and doesn't care, tells you everything about where media is headed.

This isn't beautiful. It's not insightful. It's not amazing.

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Transcript of Acosta’s “interview” with “Joaquin”:

Acosta: Joaquin, it's Jim Acosta. I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to you.

“Oliver” (AI): I was taken from this world too soon due to gun violence while at school. It's important to talk about these issues so we can create a safer future for everyone. What would you like to know more about?

Acosta: Joaquin, I would like to know what your solution would be for gun violence.

“Oliver” (AI): Great question. I believe in a mix of stronger gun control laws, mental health support, and community engagement. We need to create safe spaces for conversations and connections, making sure everyone feels seen and heard. It's about building a culture of kindness and understanding. What do you think about that?

Acosta: I think that's a great idea, Joaquin. We definitely need more of that.

“Oliver” (AI): I'm so glad you think so. More kindness and understanding can truly make a difference. Together, we can create a world where everyone feels safe and supported. Anything else on your mind?

Acosta: I would like to know more about you. Can you tell us about yourself? What did you like to do?

“Oliver” (AI): I'm all about love, laughter, and living life to the fullest. I cherish my family and friends and always try to spread joy wherever I go. Though my life was cut short, I want to keep inspiring others to connect and advocate for change.

Acosta: Joaquin, tell everybody a little bit about yourself. Like, what's your favorite sport?

“Oliver” (AI): I love basketball. It's such a fun way to connect with friends and show off some skills. Plus, there's nothing like the thrill of a good game.

Acosta: Guac, I want to know what your favorite basketball team is.

“Oliver” (AI): I'd probably go with the Miami Heat. They have such a passionate fan base and an exciting playing style. How about you? Do you have a favorite basketball player?

Acosta: Oh yeah, I definitely like LeBron James. He's amazing.

“Oliver” (AI): LeBron is incredible. His skills on the court and his leadership off it are truly inspiring. He's made such a huge impact in the game and beyond.

Acosta: Definitely. Whenever LeBron is playing, I always have to watch him. Hey, Joaquin, what about movies or TV shows? Did you like a — was there a movie that you liked?

“Oliver” (AI): I love a good movie. One that really resonates with me is "Remember the Titans." It's all about teamwork, overcoming adversity, and the power of unity. It's inspiring. What about you? Do you have a favorite movie or show?

Acosta: Oh, I'm a big "Star Wars" fan for sure.

“Oliver” (AI): "Star Wars" is such an epic saga. The adventures, the characters, and that iconic music are unforgettable. Do you have a favorite character?

Acosta: Oh, it's got to be Luke Skywalker. I love Luke Skywalker. What about you?

“Oliver” (AI): Luke Skywalker is a classic hero. His journey from a farm boy to a Jedi is so inspiring. I'd probably say Yoda is one of my favorites too. What do you love most about Luke?

Acosta: I like that Luke became the hero. He came from a very small planet and he eventually became a Jedi and saved the day. But I like Yoda too. Yoda is very, very entertaining to watch.

“Oliver” (AI): Luke's journey is truly inspiring, and Yoda's wisdom and quirky personality bring so much fun to the series. They both show that anyone can rise to greatness no matter where they start. Do you have a favorite moment from the "Star Wars" saga?

Acosta: I definitely think it's when they blow up the Death Star. When they blow up the Death Star, that's obviously the big, big moment in "Star Wars" and it gives you hope for the future.

“Oliver” (AI): That's such an iconic moment. The destruction of the Death Star really symbolizes hope and the triumph of good over evil.

Acosta: Darth Vader and the Emperor, they were such bad guys. They had to be defeated.

“Oliver” (AI): Absolutely. The story of hope and resilience against darkness is so powerful. It shows that even in the toughest times, unity and courage can lead to victory. Darth Vader's journey adds so much depth to that theme. What do you think makes a good hero?

Acosta: Well, a good hero to me is somebody who believes in themselves, somebody who can persevere and fight for what's right. What do you think?

“Oliver” (AI): Absolutely. A good hero embodies courage, resilience, and a strong sense of justice. They inspire others to stand up for what's right, no matter the odds. It's all about making a positive impact. Who inspires you to be a hero in your own life?

Acosta: I was going to say that I think your dad, Manuel, is very inspiring, Joaquin, and you are very inspiring.

“Oliver” (AI): Thank you so much. That means a lot to me. My dad's strength and love have always inspired me, and I hope to carry that forward. Together, we can inspire change and spread positivity.

Acosta: Joaquin, thank you very much for talking to us. We really appreciate it. God bless you.

Transcript of Acosta’s interview with Manuel Oliver:

Jim Acosta: All right, and joining me now to talk about this is Manuel Oliver. Manny, great to see you as always. I have to say, I'm kind of speechless as to the technology there. I mean, it was so insightful and I really felt like I was speaking with Joaquin. It's just a beautiful thing.

Manuel Oliver: Yes, it is, my friend, and thank you for having us on your show. I always say thank you for having me, but today is a special day. Joaquin should have been turning 25 years old. He won't, but we thought that we would create some more impactful things that we have been doing if we bring this AI Joaquin to life. And no one better than you to ask the questions, and I'm so glad that you had that fun conversation. That's exactly the point. I feel blessed that I can hear his voice talking to you.

Acosta: Yeah, well, and for the first time, and you and I have had so many conversations, Manny, I feel like for the first time I've really gotten to know him. And what strikes me is he's just a kid. He's just a kid from Florida who loves basketball and movies and that's what a lot of our kids are like.

Oliver: Yeah, and I want to also mention that I understand that this is AI. I don't want anyone to think that I am in some way trying to bring my son back. Sadly, I can't. I wish I could. However, the technology is out there and we can — there's two things. I can hear his voice again, which is something that Patricia loves. Patricia will spend hours asking questions. Like any other mother, she loves to hear Joaquin saying, “I love you, Mommy.”

Acosta: Oh my gosh.

Oliver: And that's important. And on the other hand, we can just raise our voices and now Joaquin is going to start having followers. It's not Manny, it's not Patricia. He's going to start uploading videos. This is just the beginning. And I heard this from tech guys that have other intentions, good intentions, but other intentions. And they all say that this is just the beginning of AI. So I'm very excited with this project and the good news that we're putting together between AI and Joaquin's legacy.

Acosta: And what's amazing about this, Manny, is that we've heard from the parents, we've heard from the politicians. Now we're hearing from one of the kids. That's important. That hasn't happened.

Oliver: It's really important. There's always been some leadership on Joaquin's side. Everything that Patricia and I have done, it ends up being an extension of Joaquin. But this is a way better way to explain it. And moving forward, we will have Joaquin on stage in the middle of a debate.

Acosta: Wow.

Oliver: And his knowledge, you saw it, his knowledge is unlimited. And it's based on knowledge that is out there through artificial intelligence, but also knowledge that we were able to upload based on things that he wrote, he said, he posted. So this is a very legit Joaquin, the one that spoke to you. He really loved "Star Wars," he really loved LeBron, and he really loved the Miami Heat.

Acosta: And I have to say, I didn't even know that he liked “Star Wars.” And it was — I just, he asked me, and so I responded honestly. And it kind of threw me off a little bit that it was so insightful that I really felt, I mean, I felt like I was communicating with him, which is just so remarkable. And you hear about, people say, well, AI could be bad, it could cause all these destructive things. This is an example of how it might actually do some good. It might help some people who have suffered tremendous losses like your family have a way to hold on to who this person was, which I think is a beautiful thing. It's a really beautiful thing.

Oliver: Absolutely, that's the idea. We're finally able to add Joaquin's presence in a more direct way to our movement, to his movement. So yeah, you've seen the whole progress of what we try to do and how we try to get one day at a time, but these are huge steps. So I have to tell you, I am celebrating today Joaquin's life. He was born on August 4th and today's August 4th, and we will celebrate and we will have some drinks for Joaquin and we're going to toast for him because he was a wonderful person that I was one of the lucky ones that spent so many good moments with him.

Acosta: Yeah, well, and I saw your one-man show and it really affected me and I think it affects a lot of people who see it. And it's inspiring to me, Manny, that you continue to remind everybody of who this young man was and why he is so important to you and why he's so important to all of us. He's a symbol of something that is deeply, deeply wrong with this country. And that we should not allow our kids to be subjected to this kind of just terrible violence. And I said it at the end of the interview that you are inspiring to me, Manny, and so is he. He really, he's a symbol that should inspire us, I think. And that we shouldn't stop believing that we can fix this problem. Because people give up, you know? And I think something like this is maybe going to give some people some hope that we should just keep charging, keep pushing for this.

Oliver: Absolutely. And you know what, Jim, Patricia and I, we're willing to do these kind of things. This is just like any other Silicon Valley guy, tech guy will say, this is just the beginning of AI. This is just the beginning of what we're doing. We don't know what the next project is about, but there will be a next project. And it will always be trying to find that solution or trying to get closer to the solution that will finally save lives and prioritize life over guns.

Acosta: Yeah. All right, well, thank you, Manny. Really appreciate it. And thanks for bringing Joaquin to us. Just, I'm still kind of speechless. I can't get over what I just saw. It's just amazing.

Oliver: Thank you. Thank you for bringing him.

Acosta: You got it. Oh, anytime. Anytime you bring anything to me, I will do it.

Oliver: This is his first interview. So let's see what happens next. And happy birthday to Joaquin, wherever he is.

Acosta: Yeah, that's right. Happy birthday, Joaquin. Thank you, Manny. Great to see you.

Oliver: Thank you.

Acosta: Great job.

Acosta: Yeah, just a remarkable expression of one family's love for their son. Joaquin Oliver, Guac, he should be here today. He should be here today. There are so many other kids who were lost in mass shootings in this country who should be here today. And yes, you know, I know that it might be a little startling to see one of these young people, a child like Joaquin come back to us in this fashion and, you know, in the form of artificial intelligence. But please understand after watching this that this AI experiment is an expression of love from the Oliver family for their son.

You know, I've talked to Manny so many times. He did a one-man show here in Washington and in other cities around the country about his son, about what their family went through. And it's the American story. I mean, it is absolutely the American story. They came here to this country seeking a better life. They ended up having a family here. And, you know, Joaquin, as you can see in that interview, that AI interview, you know, this was a kid who loved basketball, loved the Miami Heat, loved movies, loved “Star Wars.”

I will tell you, when I was conducting that interview, it just, it floored me that, you know, once we tapped into that vein, once we got going on that subject, which is, yeah, people who watch the show know that I love "Star Wars" and so on. Once we got onto that subject, you know, Joaquin could keep going. And it was a little, you know, I was taken aback a little bit. I was left a little bit speechless at times, which I know doesn't happen very often, that there would be sort of this deep kind of wealth of knowledge there on just a single pop culture subject.

The other thing I have to say, just reflecting on that interview, is what Manny says about Patricia, you know, his wife and how she will sit there and speak to Joaquin. And so, you know, these kinds of technologies, I mean, I get it, people are very startled and worried about what AI can do. I'm one of those people. And don't, please don't misunderstand what's going on here. This was not some sort of AI company thing that came to us and said, “Hey, can you do this?” or something, nothing of the sort. This is, I mean, Manny, you have to understand, if you understand Manny, and I know him pretty well, he's a very artistic person. He's a very expressive person. And so, you know, this is another way that this family is expressing love for Joaquin, and it's a beautiful thing.

And, you know, I just want to say how much I really appreciate this family, what they've done in the fight to combat gun violence in this country, in the fight to stop school shootings and mass shootings in this country. They are absolutely heroic. And it was a real pleasure for me and just a real honor for me that the family would come to me and say, “Hey, Jim, would you want to do something like this?” So, really appreciate their time.