It was billed as a “one-of-a-kind interview,” but it may be remembered as a new low for journalism. Jim Acosta, the former CNN anchor turned Substack host, has ignited a firestorm of controversy by conducting what may be one of the most unsettling interviews of the AI era: a televised conversation with an AI-generated version of Joaquin Oliver, the 17-year-old who was killed in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

The interview aired at the request of Joaquin’s parents, who created the AI version of their son to keep his memory alive and to amplify his message about gun violence. But many viewers—across the political spectrum—are calling it exploitative, emotionally manipulative, and a dangerous precedent.

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