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Joaquin Oliver died two years ago in the attack on Parkland High School. Her parents agreed to film a video of her manipulated image to send a message in favor of the vote.
When the parents of a teenager killed in America’s worst high school shooting received a proposal from an advertising agency to resurrect their deceased son in an election video, they didn’t hesitate for a moment.
“You are interviewing the parents of a boy who was murdered in his school, it takes a lot to impress us. The level is very high. We said yes, right away,” Manuel Oliver, who lives in Florida with his wife Patricia, tells AFP. .
Joaquín’s life – born in Venezuela and brought to the United States when he was only three – ended at 17 on February 14, 2018, when a shooter killed him along with 16 other people at his high school in Parkland. Since then, his parents’ life has become that of two militants against firearms.
They provided the agency with photos of their son and an actor who looks like Joaquín recorded a message. Then, through artificial intelligence (AI), the software replaced the face of the interpreter with that of the child, as if it were a digital mask.
The final video, released in early October on unfinishedvotes.com, lasts one minute: “Yo, soy yo”, Joaquín throws his hat on his head and in front of a basketball court. His message is studded with continuous “bro” (short for “brother”, brother) and he uses his hands a lot, like real ones.
“I left two years ago, but nothing has changed. People continue to die from firearms,” says the young man.
“The November elections are the first in which I could have voted, but I will never be able to choose the kind of world I would like to live in.”
“Vote for me, because I can’t”, he concludes in a sensational closure.
Patricia and Manuel Oliver, Joaquín’s parents, defend their decision to record the video.
When you talk about “deepfakes,” ultra-realistic videos generated by artificial intelligence, you tend to think the worst (the retouched images of politicians saying things they haven’t said or fake porn featuring famous faces). Although at other times it is also used for much more laudable purposes (such as resurrected actors in the cinema or paraplegic people who have the opportunity to dance).
Dispute
Joaquín’s video is, however, a separate case. Is it ethical to make a dead young man speak, even for a good cause?
“This is the perfect example of the good use of these technologies,” defends Manuel.
And to those who insult him – as you can see in the comments section of the YouTube video – the father angrily asks what is really immoral, his video “or how politicians handle gun violence? country?”.
Tim Jones, the McCann New York creative who came up with this “crazy idea”, didn’t know how his parents would react.
“It is a very macabre proposal, to bring back a child. It is very delicate from an ethical and psychological point of view. But Patricia and Manuel were very interested,” says this family man.
The main obstacle was therefore technical. Artificial intelligence typically requires thousands of images to reconstruct a person. But, due to too short a life, Joaquín’s parents didn’t have enough material.
“He was a teenager, his face changed every day,” notes Tim Jones.
A six month job
The production, commissioned by the Brazilian studio Lightfarm, lasted a long time, six months. The result is not perfect but “very, very close to Joaquín”, according to Manuel.
The voice is that of the actor slightly altered, due to the lack of sufficient recordings by Joaquín himself.
As for the drafting of the text, the parents say they were inspired by the messages written by their son, who they say was interested in politics and the debate on weapons.
“You can check it out on your Twitter,” Patricia invites.
“Joaquín was also my best friend. And when you have a best friend for over 17 years, you know exactly how he thinks and reacts to things,” adds Manuel.
“Nothing reprehensible”
These precautions reassure Mary Ann Franks, a law professor at the University of Miami. “I’m not going to judge how parents grieve,” she told AFP, noting that parents make all kinds of decisions for their minor children, dead or alive.
This cyber-civic rights expert sees nothing reprehensible in the video, as it is clearly announced that it is artificial: “It’s not about manipulation with the intention of misleading,” she appreciates.
“I would love for this to be the way to bring Joaquín back to life. But there is no way to do it”, defends Manuel.
Joaquín, he says, would agree with the message.
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