Today, the gun violence epidemic continues to ravage Americans across the country. More than 43,000 were killed by guns in 2023 alone, yet politicians still refuse to act. Knowing that the phone call remains one of the most effective ways to reach and influence politicians, we turned to cutting-edge audio technology, powered by AI, to turn the voices of victims killed by gun violence into phone calls. Then we equipped Americans with the tools necessary to send these AI calls to Congress, again and again, as an advocacy rallying cry that was too loud, and too powerful, to ignore.

Founded in response to the 2018 Parkland School shooting, Change The Ref and March For Our Lives work in relentless pursuit of gun reform. Today, gun reform is desperately needed: every day in the U.S., 120 Americans are killed by guns. Mass shootings, school shootings, suicides—these horrors are an inescapable part of life for every citizen. In 2023 alone, 43,036 people were killed by guns, while mass shootings rose to their second highest year ever. Polls prove a majority of the population wants sensible gun reform laws, such as universal background checks, yet elected officials refuse to act due to pro-gun lobbying groups with more money and influence. Despite the number of deaths and shootings, not one federal gun law was passed in 2023. One of the most effective ways to combat the lobbying groups and compel elected officials to make change is to pick up the phone and call them, but the problem is that those who have been killed by gun violence have lost their ability to speak out for change. How could we get lawmakers to finally listen? Our answer was to connect Congress directly with the human behind the statistic by re-creating the voices of shooting victims using AI technology. Each voice was turned into a phone call that demanded change from lawmakers, and could be sent through our interactive online platform, The Shotline. With it, visitors could trigger AI calls to their elected officials and join a national movement for responsible gun reform.

The first sound you hear is a person’s voice. They introduce themselves. They talk briefly about who they are. Maybe they describe a dream they had, or a hobby, like caring for shelter dogs. It all sounds like a normal phone call you’d receive any day of the week. But then there’s a twist. They aren’t real; at least, not anymore. Sometime in the past they were killed by a gun, and the only reason they can speak to you today is because their family used powerful AI technology to bring their voice back from the dead. You feel uneasy, or angry, but that’s the point. The voice asks that you channel your emotions into action on a platform called The Shotline. With it, every American has the ability to send victims’ stories to Congress and, in turn, have their own voices join a powerful call for change.

English scripts of “The Shotline” AI phone calls:

UZI GARCIA:

Hi! This is Uzi Garcia. I love video games, telling jokes and making my friends laugh, and jumping on the trampoline with my family. I’m a fourth grader at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Or, at least, I was, when a man with an AR-15 came into my school and killed 18 of my classmates, two teachers, and me.

That was almost two years ago. Nothing has changed. Even more shootings have happened. That’s why my family re-created my voice using AI to call you today and demand change. You’ll be getting more calls from others like me too. I used to love helping people. What is it going to take for you to help make sure violence like this stops happening?

JOAQUIN OLIVER:

Hello, I’m Joaquin Oliver. Six years ago, I was a senior at Parkland. Many students and teachers were murdered on Valentine’s Day that year by a person using an AR-15, but you don’t care. You never did. It’s been six years and you’ve done nothing. Not a thing to stop all the shootings that have continued to happen since.

The thing is, I died that day in Parkland. My body was destroyed by a weapon of war. I’m back today because my parents used AI to re-create my voice to call you.

Other victims like me will be calling too, again and again, to demand action. How many calls will it take for you to care? How many dead voices will you hear before you finally listen? Every day, your inaction creates more voices. If you fail to act now, we’ll find someone who will.

AKILAH DASILVA:

Hello, this is Akilah Dasilva. Sound familiar? Maybe you’ve heard my music—some of it got pretty big. You may know me as Natrix Dream. I’ve released most of my work under that name. Or maybe you know me as one of those four people murdered by an AR-15 during the Nashville Waffle House mass shooting.

I don’t mean to be so blunt, I just need your attention. My family re-created my voice using AI so I can call you to share my story. Other victims of gun violence will be calling too. We’ll keep calling, again and again, until you pass gun reform laws so no more families have to go through what mine has been through.

I once wrote, “Forget about making a hashtag, let’s throw all the guns in a trash bag.” My words didn’t stop my killer, but stricter gun laws could have.

KAYLA SHAWN:

Hi, my name is Kayla Shawn. I am almost 11 years old. I love making up fun stories. One time, I told my family I married a mermaid! Do you want to hear another story? Although, this one isn’t fun: Four years ago, my dad shot me with a gun and I died. I don’t know why, but he shouldn’t have had a gun. All I know is people wore bright colors at my funeral. I loved bright colors.

Today, my mom helped me tell one last story. She used AI to restore my voice so I could ask why you don’t protect kids from guns. You let this happen, over and over. My mom says I wanted to make the world a better place. But when you protect guns more than kids, that can’t happen.

You have the power to change things so more kids’ stories don’t end like mine. Will you save kids from guns or will you continue to do nothing, like you have since I was killed?

MIKE BAUGHAN:

Hey there, this is Mike Baughan. Just need a minute of your time. That’s not too much to ask, right? Just 60 seconds to talk about gun violence, which is about 60 more than you’ve thought about it during your time in Congress.

Sorry to focus so much on time. It’s just that when I purchased the gun that would end my life in 2014, it took me all of 15 minutes. Only 15 minutes to destroy a family, all because you think gun laws aren’t the problem.

But I’m back now, because my parents know I am worth the effort. They used AI to re-create my voice so I could have the chance to call and demand to be heard. Others like me will call too. Over and over and over. What do we care? We’re dead. We’ve got nothing but time. What will you do with your time in office?

JAYCEE WEBSTER:

Hey, my name is Jaycee Webster. I like to think of myself as someone who’s kind, who’s laid-back. Who likes to joke around. But I’m not afraid to stand up to bullies. What I came to realize, though, is that people can stand up to bullies, but people can’t stand up to bullets.

In 2017, I was shot and killed. You heard that right. Killed. Everything changed for my family that year. But with gun laws, nothing changes. Shootings keep happening and not a thing is done to fix that.

Every morning before my mom left for work, I told her, “Hey, beautiful! I love you, be safe, have a blessed day, and God bless.” But now, I can’t tell her anything at all. You’re only hearing from me because my family used AI to re-create my voice. So I could call you. So you could hear from me directly.

I’ve always said, “I may not change the world, but I want to inspire many.” Today, I want to inspire you. To make change. To choose common sense over fear. To use the power you’ve been given to stop guns from killing people like they killed me.

ETHAN SONG:

Hi, this is Ethan Song. I’m calling because I need your help. Which is weird. Usually I was the one helping people. And animals. I love animals. I fostered like 95 dogs and puppies. But I can’t help anyone anymore.

In 2018, when I was 15 years old, I was killed by an unsecured gun at my friend’s house. My parents re-created my voice using AI so I could ask you to finally do something to protect kids from guns.

The thing is, kids like me are dying every day. It’s time to act. Time to pass laws that protect kids from unsecured guns and help end gun violence. Helping people is your job, after all. So pass responsible gun laws, or we’ll find someone who will. More calls are coming.

In 2023, the U.S. experienced more than 43,000 gun violence deaths, and an 8% increase in mass shootings over 2020 (a record-breaking year), yet zero federal gun laws were passed. We knew we couldn’t change the law without changing the mind of the lawmakers. To do it, we needed to galvanize action that affected them directly.

To this day, the phone call is still one of the most effective ways of compelling change in Congress. This is especially true if the phone doesn’t stop ringing—the more calls, the better. Putting constant pressure on Congress members makes it impossible for them to ignore their constituents.

We needed to move away from typical awareness campaigns that encourage vocal advocacy, and instead create something directly actionable (i.e., calls to Congress) by giving citizens a tool that made it easier to demand change in a way they’d never seen—or heard—before.

Within the first month, the campaign reached +51K social mentions; 1,235 news articles across the country; and +3.6B impressions, all with $0 media spend. The campaign was the Apple News Editors’ Pick, becoming a push notification for every single Apple News user in the country. On social media, there was a 22% increase in gun reform conversation the following two weeks after the campaign launched.

Most importantly, we moved people from simply vocally advocating for gun reform into direct action. On the Shotline website, +100,000 calls were placed to members of Congress in just 10 days, reaching every single representative and senator in the United States.

The Shotline was described by NPR as “a new frontier in politics” and by WSJ as “a new era for artificial intelligence” due to its radically innovative approach to gun reform advocacy. We did it by working with the families of shooting victims to re-create voices of their loved ones using cutting-edge artificial intelligence audio technology that didn’t exist a year ago. This audio innovation was necessary because the same old voices simply weren’t reaching Congress. The AI voices were just the first step, however, as they needed an easy-to-use way to reach representatives in Washington and fight against their inaction. So, working with a team of lawyers, and our in-house creative technology team, we created the world’s first communications system designed to place AI voice calls to the United States Government. Americans could now exert hard-to-ignore pressure on specific representatives—all with just a few clicks.