German magazine under fire for AI-generated Schumacher interview

BERLIN

A German magazine has come under fire this weekend for publishing a fake interview with F1 legend Michael Schumacher which was generated by artificial intelligence tools.

After widespread criticisms, including on social media, Die Aktuelle magazine announced that it sacked the editor-in-chief, and apologized to the family of Schumacher.

“This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way corresponds to the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect from a publisher like FUNKE,” the media group’s managing director Bianca Pohlmann said in a statement.

The magazine ran a front cover in its latest edition with a photo of the former Formula 1 world champion and the headline, "Michael Schumacher: The first interview!"

Inside, the magazine informed the readers that the interview with Schumacher came from a website that used artificial intelligence tools.

Editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has been journalistically responsible for Die Aktuelle since 2009 was dismissed with immediate effect.

Schumacher suffered a serious head injury in a skiing accident in 2013 and has not been seen in public since then. His family shared limited information so far about his medical condition and treatment.