Editor sacked over fake interview with Michael Schumacher

Emmanuel Thomas, DPA, Sunday, April 23, 2023

 

BERLIN – The editor-in-chief of the German tabloid magazine that published a fake AI-generated interview with the former Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher was dismissed on Friday by the Funke media group.

Funke, which publishes the magazine, also offered an apology to the Schumacher family.

“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,” said Bianca Pohlmann, managing director of Funke magazines.

Anne Hoffmann, the top editor at Die Aktuelle magazine was “relieved of her duties as of today,” a Funke statement said. She has overseen the magazine’s journalism since 2009.
The story published this week in Die Aktuelle caused a stir in the German media world and a debate about the perils of artificial intelligence.

The front page of the magazine was a photo of Schumacher, with the headline: “Michael Schumacher: The first interview!”

A smaller headline below read: “It sounds deceptively real.”

Inside the magazine it became clear that the tabloid was writing about a fake interview generated by a website that used AI tools.

Most fans would know that claims of an interview were entirely fabricated, as Schumacher has lived in complete seclusion since obtaining a major brain injury while skiing in 2013. The accident left him with severe long-lasting health effects. He has not been seen in public since the accident.

The “interview” misleadingly suggested that Schumacher, 54, had revealed details of his recovery.