I can’t believe what is about to come out of my keyboard but here goes: Michael Schumacher‘s family is suing a German publication over an interview the magazine created with the famous race car driver using AI.
You read that right.
The Formula One champion suffered a near-fatal skiing accident in 2013 and was placed into an induced coma. He was brought home in 2014 and his medical condition has been kept private ever since.
All this being said, the German publication which Schumacher’s relatives are seeking legal action against — Die Aktuelle — published a photo of the racecar driver for its front cover with the headline reading, ‘Michael Schumacher, the first interview.”
Is this magazine okay? Who green lit this?
The words underneath the headline read, “it sounded deceptively real”.In the article itself it is revealed that the interview has been generated using AI.
“I can with the help of my team actually stand by myself and even slowly walk a few steps,” the Schumacher ‘quotes’ read — as reported by BBC Sport.
“My wife and my children were a blessing to me and without them I would not have managed it. Naturally they are also very sad, how it has all happened.
“They support me and are standing firmly at my side.”
AGAIN — WHO. LET. THIS. GET. PUBLISHED.
The quotes were generated using a program called character.ai — but let’s not take any absolute fucking disbelief out on the robots. Humans let this happen. Actual humans with apparent hearts and brains.
Schumacher’s family are planning to take legal action, according to new agency Reuters. The publishers of the magazine won’t be commenting on the issue, according to BBC Sport.
In the 2021 Netflix Documentary Shumacher, the racecar driver’s wife Corinna shared a small insight what life is like for their family after the accident.
“Michael is here. Different, but he’s here, and that gives us strength, I find,” she said in the documentary.
“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.”
This breaks my heart. Honestly, put yourself in the shoes of Schumacher’s family right now.
What an unnecessary and completely avoidable experience for them to be going through on top of everything else.
