'I bawled': Uvalde victim's dad says son's AI-generated voice was needed to get lawmakers' attention

ByMayra Moreno KTRK logo
Friday, February 16, 2024
Campaign uses AI-generated voices of gun violence victims
A campaign is using AI-generated voices of mass shooting victims in hopes of reaching lawmakers and to possibly change gun laws.

Some of the voices of mass shooting victims are coming back to life, so to speak, to reach lawmakers and get them to change gun laws possibly.



The voice of Uziyah Garcia, who was killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, is one of the voices re-created using artificial intelligence.



His voice, along with other mass shooting victims, was used to create messages for the "Shotline" campaign.



The website lets you pick a victim, and then search your zip code, and send an AI-generated voice message right to your local politicians.



ABC13 anchor Mayra Moreno spoke to Uziyah's father, Brett Cross. He said the goal is to flood all local politicians with these messages in hopes of changing gun laws. He also said how he felt the first time he heard his son's message:



"I bawled, and I just listened to it over and over because this is the only thing I got back since May 24. This is the only time that I have heard him since then, and that was 632 days ago," he said. "Our children's voices were taken away when they lost their lives, and now we're able to recreate them and use them to call on these politicians who you know have been hearing us but not listening to us."



Eyewitness News reached out to the company behind this campaign and has not heard back. It is sponsored, in part, by the youth group that was formed after the Shooting in Parkland six years ago.



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