Michael Schumacher’s family to pursue legal action over AI interview
The family of seven-time world Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher will pursue legal action after magazine Die Aktuelle published an AI interview with the German.
The Ferrari legend’s family confirmed to Reuters that they would seek legal action after the magazine ran an image of the driver on their 15 April front page with the headline “Michael Schumacher, the first interview”.
A strap-line reading “it sounded deceptively real” followed the headline with the article stating in the piece that the quotes were generated by AI programme Character.ai.
Schumacher’s accident
Schumacher suffered significant head injuries in a skiing accident in 2013 in Meribel and was initially placed into a medically induced coma.
A year later he showed some signs of consciousness but it was confirmed in 2016 that the now 52-year-old still couldn’t walk following the accident.
He has not been seen in public since.
His son, Mick, is the current reserve driver for Formula 1 team Mercedes and recently had a permanent seat with Haas.
In a 2021 Netflix documentary, Schumacher’s wife Corinna said: “We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond.
“We’re trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.
“‘Private is private’, as he always said. It’s very important to me that he can continue to enjoy his private life as much as possible. Michael always protected us, and now we are protecting Michael.”
The article has been slammed by fans.