Paralysed Schumacher's 'first interview' provokes a huge scandal

German magazine Die Aktuelle published a fake interview with legendary Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher. To generate answers, the authors of the material used an artificial intelligence chatbot.

The cover of Die Aktuell featured a photo of the former world champion with the headline "Michael Schumacher: First Interview!". Below was a smaller caption: "Sounds deceptively believable".

The text explained that Schumacher's interview was taken from a website "related to artificial intelligence, or AI for short".

This situation caused a major scandal in the world of motorsport. Schumacher's family announced that they would sue the publication, and the editor-in-chief, Anne Hoffmann, was fired.

"This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we - and our readers - expect from a publisher like Funke. The editor-in-chief, Anne Hoffmann, who has been responsible for the journalistic activities since 2009, is resigning from her position. The decision is effective immediately," Spiegel quoted Funke Media Group Managing Director Bianca Pohlmann as saying.

On December 29, 2013, Michael Schumacher suffered serious brain injuries while skiing. Over the course of two years, doctors performed several operations on Michael, putting him in an induced coma, where he spent almost six months.

In September 2014, Schumacher was discharged from the hospital and sent to his home in Switzerland, where he was under the supervision of specialists.

In 2018, Schumacher was moved from Switzerland to the Spanish island of Mallorca.

In Formula 1, Schumi won 91 races, twice becoming world champion with Benetton and then five times with the Italian racing team Ferrari. His son Mick has also competed in Formula 1 for the past two years and is currently a reserve driver for Mercedes.

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!