Using AI to Amplify the Voices of Gun Violence Victims
Photo credit: Skitterphoto on pixabay.com
By Kacy Cheslek and Steve Lemeshko
A coalition led by Change the Ref and March For Our Lives has launched the Shotline project in a move to gain more attention toward the issue of gun violence in the U.S. The website uses artificial intelligence (AI) to allow the reader to hear the voices of six victims and experience their stories with the click of a button. At the same time, users can join the movement by sending the voices from the Shotline website to their local U.S. representatives, contributing to the collective demand for change. Already, the project has been featured in the Washington Post, the Hill, NPR, and the Guardian, to name a few. The website is gaining a lot of attention and resonating within society.
Gun violence is such a prevalent issue in this country that we are becoming desensitized to it. The Shotline website provides the statistic that 43,036 people died from gun violence in 2023 alone. While the number is devastating, it is difficult to wrap our minds around the gravity of such numbers. The damage is so grand that it is nearly incomprehensible, making it harder to empathize with the victims. This concept is referred to as psychic numbing.
However, the individual stories featured on the website carry a greater impact because it is easier to relate to individual people rather than numbers. Thus, we feel more empathy for the victims. By highlighting the personal experiences of victims, the project takes the concept of narrative empathy to the next level through the use of AI. Readers are able to form a stronger connection with the shooting victims by hearing their voices. The voices in this case are especially emotional because they will never be heard in-person again. It’s an empowering miracle that we can hear them now.
The Shotline website operates with the explicit consent and collaboration of the victims' families, ensuring the respectful use of the voices. Though AI can be abused and is ethically controversial, this is a powerful example of how it can be used as a tool for meaningful change. The radical idea of using the voices of the dead to advocate for the living is unsettling and provokes discomfort, but that seems to be the point. By confronting us with the harsh realities of gun violence, we are compelled to act. In the face of such urgency, the ethical concerns surrounding AI pale compared to the ongoing crisis.
To read more on gun violence, see the following:
The Soul Box Project / October 12, 2022
Around the O Interviews Paul Slovic on Gun Violence / June 14, 2022
A New York Times Report on Gun Violence and Psychic Numbing / June 1, 2022
Representing Victims of School Gun Violence at the University of Oregon / March 14, 2018