Last year, a German women's magazine published a fake interview with Michael Schumacher, leading the F1 legend's family to sued the publisher over the article.
Michael Schumacher's family has been awarded £170,239 in damages after suing a magazine which published a fake interview with the F1 legend.
Last April, Die Actuelle published an interview with Schumacher that turned out to have been created using AI. The German women's weekly incorrectly reported the interview as Schumacher's first since his skiing accident in 2013.
The seven-time world champion has been kept out of public view by his family since he was seriously injured in a crash, but last year Die Actuelle magazine made a surprise appearance by publishing a picture of him beaming with joy on its cover.
The photo was accompanied by a headline announcing the legendary driver's “first interview” since his injury, and the article stated that Schumacher was “able to stand on his own and even take a few slow steps.”
The paper also claimed that the star's entire family is “very sad” about his accident. There is no evidence that any of the claims in Di Actre's controversial article are true. Another tagline claimed the article “sounds real,” alluding to the use of AI.
The article was unbylined, but the anonymous author admitted later in the piece that the quotes had been generated using AI. Schumacher's family was outraged by the article and quickly filed a lawsuit against the publisher, Funke Mediengruppe, for publishing a misleading article.
Funke sacked the magazine's editor-in-chief Ann Hoffmann and issued an apology, but Ubermedien reports that the Munich employment court (Landesarbeitsgericht) has ruled in favour of the Schumachers and ordered Funke to pay £170,239 in damages.
It is also alleged that the court found that Hoffman's dismissal was not legally valid. Hoffman claimed wrongful dismissal and won, with the court ruling that her dismissal was “not legally valid.”
When Hoffman was fired, Funke director Bianca Pohlmann said: “This insensitive and misleading article should never have been published. It is simply not in keeping with the journalistic standards we and our readers expect from a publisher like Funke.”
The article caused an uproar in the F1 paddock and was widely condemned by many, with Schumacher's former teammate Johnny Herbert leading the charge, slamming the magazine a month after the article was published.
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“That interview with the German magazine was awful,” he told ICE36. “This is the crazy world of modern AI and how dangerous it is. It was a classic example of using AI in a completely wrong way.”
“I understand the fascination with Michael because it's a story that's not over yet. The fascination with Michael continues. I have no contact with the family. Everything is kept very secret.”