Megachurch pastor Jack Graham was in the middle of Sunday's message to Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. After encouraging people to respond to the murder of conservative Christian activist Charlie Kirk by looking at God, he instructed the congregation to listen to an approximately one-minute audio clip of what sounded like Kirk to deliver a short speech.
“Listen to Charlie telling him what happened to him last week,” Graham said.
The congregation got applauded as the clip was over, encouraging listeners to “pick up your cross and go back to battle.” A few seconds later, they stood up with a standing ovation.
But the clip they heard wasn't actually Charlie Kirk across the grave. As Graham revealed when he introduced the segment, the congregations were hearing production that was fully generated by artificial intelligence. The clip, which went viral online, is a cloned version of Kirk's voice, asking what Kirk would say by showing his death what he would say, what he would appear to be an AI-generated response from the chatbot.
It is unclear where the video began, but at least two other large evangelical Protestant churches – Dream City Church in Arizona and San Marcos Church in California – performed during the service that day. Pastors from both churches revealed that the clip is AI. Still, the segments caused applause every time.
The message is part of a wave of AI-creating content that flooded social media after Kirk's murder, and even supporters and former Kirk colleagues share images, video and audio messages, featuring Feld activists and was created by artificial intelligence.
In the rage over Kirk's murder and debate over his legacy, the most visible surge on social media platforms showed a new form of public lament and memory that is saddened by a hyperreal but completely fictional reconstruction created in seconds by AI services.
Kirk's AI-generated images and videos appeared within hours of his death. Many were characterized by religious themes, a by-product of Kirk's own personal and political change towards evangelical Christianity near the end of his life.
Imagining Kirk in heaven was a common theme. In one clip, which won hundreds of thousands of views on Facebook and X, Kirk stares at the camera as soft piano music plays.
“I'm Charlie. My faith took my life to me, but now I feel glory forever,” says Kirk, who was generated by AI.
The fictional Kirk introduces Paul, Stephen, Andrew, and Peter, four historical Christian martyrs and saints. These are also AI-generated characters, who tell their own martian stories temporarily before AI Kirk encourages listeners to be rooted in the “church of biblical beliefs” and to take part in a “spiritual” battle and “overwhelming the world with Jesus.”
The other clips are shorter, but more direct. It depicts people who portray Kirk taking selfies in heaven along with famous assassinated Americans, including Abraham Lincoln, President John F. Kennedy and Pastor Martin Luther King Jr.
Many AI-generated clips depict Jesus Christ and Kirk. Kirk sits in the same tent and shows him being shot and killed, but suddenly he jumps out of his chair, showing a smiley Jesus as he climbs the stairs. Another feature is a Kirk generated by AI praying on a park bench, as the Bible flashes throughout the screen and the Czech Winans plays in the background, a “coming Jesus Come” . Eventually, a shining Jesus arrives and the two embrace each other.
Yet another shows Jesus and Kirk, bringing America into a great hat again, walking towards the camera in the clouds.
“Welcome, my son,” Jesus says he is accepting Ikirk. “Your work is finished. Take a break.”
Images generated by the apparent AI are being used by Kirk's former colleague. Andrew Corvette, who produced “The Charlie Kirk Show” and has hosted the program many times since Kirk's murder, has posted what appears to be a Ai-generated image of Kirk alongside other assassinated Americans from US history such as King and Lincoln.
(The image sparked criticism and realised Kirk criticised King. Pastor Bernice King, one of the daughters of Martin Luther King Jr., said, “There's a lot wrong with this.”)
The portrayal of famous figures in heaven or in their relationship with Jesus is rarely unusual. However, certain uses of AI to commemorate Kirk could be the growth of the widespread use of technology among President Donald Trump's followers, as the internet is flooded with content within hours of his death. That includes the Trump administration itself. On several occasions, AI-generated images and memes have appeared in official government accounts.
As observed in the Atlantic in August, Charlie Worzel, who writes about technology and media, “the high-resolution, low-budget appearance of generative images appears to blend with the meme-loving aesthetics of the Magazine movement.”
Warzel added: “AI art is being magazine coded, at least in the social media heat swamp. GOP is becoming a party of AI slops.”
Of course, Kirk is an avid Trump supporter, playing a key role in helping the president return to power, with some of the AI-generated content that has proliferated after activists' deaths tied to conservative causes. For example, many images tied Kirk's death to the stab wounds of Irina Zaltoska, a Ukrainian refugee who murdered a bus in Charlotte, North Carolina, and became the source of rage from Kirk and other conservatives just before Kirk and other conservatives. One widely shared image shows the Kirk generated by the AI who comforted Zarutska while she was bleeding while sitting on the bus where she was killed. At least one person created a video version of the image featuring the hymn. A similar AI-generated video shows Kirk hugging Zaltoska on the bus.
The video generated to another AI pushed a pro-Israel message. This is a topic that has sparked division among conservatives and is reportedly trying to ease Kirk just before his death.
In the video, Kirk, generated by AI decorated with angel wings and white robes, says, “We are in a better place now, but America and Israel are never the same.” AI Kirk claims that both the US and Israel are based on “faith, freedom, family.”
Despite their viral nature, it is unclear exactly what role these effectively enhanced memories will play in the lives of those who lament Kirk's death. However, the social media boosters of the work often frame them as a form of catharticism. In Tiktok, influencer Taylor Diazmerkado posted a short video of herself last week. Diaz Mercado can be seen visibly crying as she nods into the middle as she nods into the middle as she speaks completely fake voices.
As of Wednesday (September 17th), 123,000 likes! Under the video, she added a short caption: “What a man.”
