Magazine fakes answers
The Schumacher family defends itself against a fake interview
4/20/2023, 4:55 p.m
Michael Schumacher has disappeared from public view since his skiing accident. Now a magazine is publishing a fake interview with the Formula 1 record world champion – only an artificial intelligence answered. So the family is against it.
The family of Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher is planning legal action against the magazine “Die Aktuell” because of an interview Schumacher faked by artificial intelligence. A spokeswoman for the family confirmed a corresponding report by sports broadcaster ESPN, according to which the Schumacher family intends to take action against the magazine.
In the April 15 issue, “Die Aktuell” headlined an old photo of Schumacher from his active racing days: “Michael Schumacher – The first interview!” A “world sensation” was announced, but the racing legend was never interviewed. “It sounds deceptively real” and “what’s behind it” is written on the front page. However, the magazine had only published “statements” by Schumacher that had been generated using artificial intelligence.
When asked by RTL/ntv, the Funke media group, which puts the magazine on the market, did not want to comment on the pending legal dispute. The question of whether the magazine might apologize to the Schumacher family also remained unanswered for the time being.
The Media portal Übermedien writes of a “perfidious path” that “The Current” chose and a “particularly remarkable impertinence”. The article tries “continuously to give the impression that it is actually a conversation with Michael Schumacher,” even the side that makes the alleged conversation possible says clearly: Everything is made up. Or as “Die Aktuell” puts it, according to Übermedien: “The interview was on the Internet. On a page that has to do with artificial intelligence, or AI for short.” Übermedien derives a devastating conclusion from this: “It says so in a magazine that has nothing to do with journalism.”
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher has lived a completely withdrawn life since an accident while skiing at the end of 2013. Little is known about the state of health of the 54-year-old after the severe brain injuries he suffered at the time, with reference to the privacy of her husband and father, Schumacher’s wife Corinna Schumacher and his two children do not want to comment on it. “‘Private is private’, as he always said,” said Michael’s wife Corinna in a Netflix documentary from 2021: “Michael has always protected us, and now we protect Michael.”