The editor of German publication Die Aktuelle has been fired after she was found to have used artificial intelligence to generate fake quotes from legendary F1 driver Michael Schumacher.
Little has been made public about Michael’s health ever since he sustained a serious injury while skiing in 2013. His wife Corinna Schumacher has ensured that his health remains very much a family matter as Michael continues his rehabilitation in Geneva.
In such circumstances, media outlets often tend to draw crowds by using quotes from the past or even comments made by some members who were close to Michael during his racing days.
However, Die Aktuelle editor Anne Hoffmann went one step further and fabricated an entire conversation with the seven-time world champion.
While Funke magazine group had no choice but to sack Anne, the Schumacher family has threatened to press charges.
On behalf of the Funke magazine group, director Bianca Pohlmann made a wholehearted apology to the Schumacher family.
“This article was in bad taste and misleading and should never have appeared,” said Pohlmann in a statement.
“It does not meet in any way the standards of journalism that we — and our readers — expect of a group like Funke.
“The editor in chief of ‘Die Aktuelle’, Anne Hoffmann, who has been in charge since 2009, has been relieved of her role as of now.”
The article was a rage given the fact that it included comments from various members of the Schumacher family who discussed Michael’s condition after the accident.
While Schumacher is not believed to be in the best of health, it has been reported that he still has memory, movement and speech problems till date.
However, that is unlikely to be made public any time soon, especially if you go by Corinna’s statement in a 2021 Netflix documentary: “‘Private is private’, as he always said.”