Family of Michael Schumacher to take legal action over an AI-generated 'interview'

The family of Michael Schumacher is intending to take legal action against a magazine that released an interview supposedly conducted by an artificial intelligence program with the retired Formula 1 driver.

Michael Schumacher, one of the greatest Formula One drivers of all time, suffered a life-threatening head injury while skiing in the French Alps in December 2013. Since then, he has remained out of the public eye and his health condition has been kept private by his family.

Recently, a German magazine called Die Aktuelle published a front cover featuring a picture of Schumacher with the headline "Michael Schumacher, the first interview," and a subheading that read "it sounded deceptively real." The supposed quotes in the article, which included Schumacher's thoughts about his health and family, were generated by an AI program called character.ai. The quotes in question included phrases such as "I can with the help of my team actually stand by myself and even slowly walk a few steps," and "My wife and my children were a blessing to me."

Schumacher's family has confirmed that they plan to pursue legal action against the magazine for the publication of the false quotes. Meanwhile, the magazine's publishers have declined to comment on the issue.

Schumacher's achievements as an F1 driver are legendary. He won his first two world championships with Benetton in 1994 and 1995 before moving to Ferrari, where he claimed five consecutive titles from 2000 to 2004. In total, Schumacher won seven world championships, a record he shares with Lewis Hamilton. He also achieved 91 race wins, a record that Hamilton surpassed in 2020.

Schumacher's son, Mick, has followed in his father's footsteps and has begun his own F1 career. He drove for Haas in 2021 and is currently a reserve driver for Mercedes.

In a 2021 Netflix documentary, Schumacher's wife Corinna spoke about their family's efforts to help Michael recover from his injuries. She emphasized that their family values their privacy and is committed to protecting Michael's privacy as well. Despite the difficult circumstances, the family is doing their best to carry on and to support one another.