Dad Hits Back At Critics Slamming Jim Acosta Talk With AI Model of Slain Son: ‘You Have The Wrong Problem’

Tommy ChristopherAug 5th, 2025, 11:01 am
 

Manuel Oliver hit back after critics slammed podcaster and ex-CNN anchor Jim Acosta for interviewing an AI model of his late son Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was slain by a mass shooter in 2018.

Joaquin was among the 17 students killed in the mass shooting carried out by Nikolas Cruz on Feb. 14, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Manuel Oliver says he is using Artificial Intelligence to keep his son’s memory alive, as other families of murder victims have done. “I like to remember my son not as the victim from Parkland, but as the 17-year-old kid that is becoming an icon,” Oliver said at a memorial Monday night.

Most recently, the family of the late Christopher Pelkey used an AI simulation to deliver a victim impact statement at his killer’s trial. But several families of people killed in mass shootings have used AI to push for laws aimed at reducing gun violence.

Acosta interviewed the AI version of “Guac” and his father on Monday’s episode of The Jim Acosta Show, after Manuel reached out to Acosta about spreading his and his son’s message.

The interview drew a barrage of criticism from vocal critics — many from the right — who decried the interview as “insane and evil,” among other things.

Mr. Oliver responded to the uproar by posting a video defending Acosta and ripping those critics:

Hello everyone, this is Manuel Oliver, I am Joaquin Oliver’s father.

Today he should be turning 25 years old, and my wife Patricia and myself, we asked our friend Jim Acosta to make an interview, have an interview with our son because now, thanks to AI, we can bring him back.

It was our idea, it was our plan, and it’s still our plan. We feel that Joaquin has a lot of things to say, and as long as we have an option that allows us to bring that to you and to everyone, we will use it.

So stop blaming people about where he’s coming from, or blaming Jim about what he was able to do.

If the problem you have is with the AI, then you have the wrong problem. The real problem is that my son was shot eight years ago.

So if you believe that that is not the problem, you are part of the problem.

Acosta also responded to critics, telling the one who called the interview “insane and evil” that “Joaquin, known as Guac, should be 25 years old today. His father approached me to do the story… to keep the memory of his son alive.”

Manuel Oliver welcomed guests to a 25th birthday celebration by introducing them to the latest version of Joaquin (video courtesy of Jim Acosta):

Watch above via Manuel Oliver.

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