Michael Schumacher's family wins compensation for fake AI 'interview'

Michael Schumacher’s family has won €200,000 (£170,287) in compensation from a German magazine after they published an ‘exclusive interview’ with the F1 legend based on answers generated by an artificial intelligence programme.

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has not been seen publicly since suffering a near-fatal brain injury while skiing in December 2013 in Meribel, France. His wife Corinna has insisted on protecting Schumacher’s privacy in the decade since, with his medical condition shrouded in secrecy as he continues to recover at home in Switzerland.

Yet German outlet Die Aktuelle sparked a huge backlash online after plastering Schumacher’s face on the front cover of the 15 April 2023 edition of their magazine with “exclusive interview” as the accompanying tag.

The magazine stated that it was “the first interview” Schumacher has given since his accident, adding: “No meagre, nebulous half-sentences from friends. But answers from him! By Michael Schumacher, 54!”

Quotes from the piece, purporting to be from Schumacher, included: “My life has completely changed since [the accident]. That was a horrible time for my wife, my children and the whole family.

“I was so badly injured that I lay for months in a kind of artificial coma, because otherwise my body couldn’t have dealt with it all. I’ve had a tough time but the hospital team has managed to bring me back to my family.”

Yet at the end of the article, the outlet reveal that they in fact used an AI chatbot, reported to be Character.ai, to generate the answers.

“Did Michael Schumacher really say everything himself” the article concludes. “The interview was online. On a page that has to do with artificial intelligence, or AI for short.”

Fans online were quick to deride the article and the magazine, with one describing it as “disgraceful” and another adding: “Well, this is awful.”

Schumacher’s family announced their intention to sue Die Aktuelle following the publication of the article and, on Wednesday, a family spokeswoman confirmed a Munich Labour Court judgement and €200,000 settlement by Funke media group, publishers of the magazine, without making any further comment.

The magazine’s editor was sacked last year, with Funke apologising to the Schumacher family.

“This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect,” said Funke managing director Bianca Pohlmann, at the time. “As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn. Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties.”

Former Ferrari boss Jean Todt gave an update on Schumacher’s health in December 2023, the same month that a five-part documentary series entitled Being Michael Schumacher aired exclusively in Germany.

“Michael is here, so I don’t miss him,” Todt told L’Equipe. “[But he] is simply not the Michael he used to be. He is different and is wonderfully guided by his wife and children who protect him.

“His life is different now and I have the privilege of sharing moments with him. That’s all there is to say. Unfortunately, fate struck him ten years ago. He is no longer the Michael we knew in Formula 1.”

The AI ‘interview’ is just the latest incident in a long-running saga between the Schumachers and Die Aktuelle.

The German magazine won a court battle in 2015 with Michael’s wife Corinna after the magazine used a picture of Corinna on the front cover, headlined: “Corinna Schumacher – a new love makes her happy.”

The story was about their daughter, Gina, but the lawsuit on the grounds of the cover being “misleading” was dismissed.

Another Schumacher-related article from the outlet, in 2014, put Michael and Corinna on the front cover with the title ‘Awake’ – yet the piece was actually focused on individuals who have woken up from a coma, as opposed to Schumacher himself.

In a Netflix documentary which aired in 2021 called Schumacher, Corinna detailed how his family have dealt with the situation and continue to “get on with their lives.”

“Michael is here. Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength, I find,” Corinna said. “We’re together. 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. And no matter what, I will do everything I can. We all will.

“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.”