“AI Generated Interview with Schumacher Sparks Public Outrage and Magazine Editor-in-Chief Fired”

24.04.2023

The use of artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT is really not limited to catching knives and being funny. What appears to be an “exclusive interview” with former German Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher was actually generated by artificial intelligence. The move sparked public outrage, and the magazine’s editor-in-chief was fired.

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) On the cover of the latest issue of the German entertainment magazine “Current Affairs” (die aktuelle), there is the head portrait of Michael Schumacher, a German sports legend and retired racing driver who has been ill for many years . Eye-catching titles such as “First Interview” and “Explosive Incident” are also printed.

But the object of the so-called “interview” was not the 54-year-old Schumacher himself, but an artificial intelligence chat robot. It’s just that under the cover photo, there is a line of small words: It sounds like the real thing. Opening the main text of the magazine, the editor confessed to the readers that the interview text was not from Schumacher’s mouth, but from a “webpage related to artificial intelligence”.

Such a trick was obviously overdone and caused an uproar. Funk Media Group, to which the magazine belongs, announced that the editor-in-chief of the pictorial, Anne Hoffmann, has been fired.

Bianca Pohlmann, director of the Funk Group journals, issued a statement apologizing to Schumacher’s family and asking for forgiveness: “This tasteless and misleading article should not have been published. It is completely incompatible with our and the standard of journalism readers have come to expect from a publisher like Funk,” adding that Hoffman, editor-in-chief of Current Affairs magazine since 2009, “is relieved of his duties with immediate effect.”

Schumacher family: Will go to court

Schumacher in France in 2013Head injury in accident while skiing, after quite a long period of time in a “vegetative” state. Although there were media reports the following year that Schumacher “was awakened from a coma”, his family remained tight-lipped about his health. Since the injury, no recent photos of him have appeared in the media.

German-language entertainment pictorials such as “Current Affairs” may publish reports such as “Schumacher’s latest situation” from time to time, but they have never obtained first-hand information, and they are basically guesswork. Schumacher’s family has repeatedly resorted to legal action to sue over media coverage it believes undermines individual rights.

This time, Schumacher’s family also said they would take legal measures. In the interview compiled by artificial intelligence, “Schumacher” talked about his health and family life. Previous reports have suggested that Schumacher’s memory, movement and language skills have not recovered.

In his racing career, Schumacher has won 7 annual championships and 91 championships.formula one carLegendary figures in sports history.his sonMick Schumacher inherits father’s footstepsalso became a Formula One driver and currently plays for the Mercedes-Benz team.

(German Federation, Agence France-Presse)

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