Magazine editor sacked over AI-generated interview of seven time F-1 champ Michael Schumacher

Funke media group tendered an apology in a statement on their website www.funkemedien.de.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The publishers of a German magazine that ran an 'interview' with Michael Schumacher generated by artificial intelligence have sacked the editor and apologised to the Formula One great's family.

Seven-time world champion Schumacher, now 54, has not been seen in public since he suffered a serious brain injury in a skiing accident on a family holiday in the French Alps in December 2013.

His family said this week that they were planning legal action against weekly magazine Die Aktuelle, owned by the Essen-based Funke media group.

Funke apologised in a statement on their website www.funkemedien.de.

"This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we – and our readers – expect from a publisher like Funke," said Funke magazines managing director Bianca Pohlmann.

"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 as of today."

The latest edition of Die Aktuelle ran a front cover with a picture of a smiling Schumacher and the headline promising 'Michael Schumacher, the first interview'.

The strapline added: "it sounded deceptively real".

Inside, it emerged that the 'quotes' had been produced by AI.

The article was produced using an AI programme called charatcter.ai, which artificially generated Schumacher 'quotes' about his health and family.

"I can with the help of my team actually stand by myself and even slowly walk a few steps," read the Schumacher 'quotes'.

"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."

Schumacher's family maintains strict privacy about the former driver's condition, with access limited to those closest to him.

"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," Corinna Schumacher said in a 2021 Netflix documentary.

"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."

Schumacher's family said on Friday that they plan to take legal action against the magazine and over the weekend its publisher issued an apology.

"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 Bianca Pohlmann, managing director of Funke media group.

"As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn.

Following his skiing accident, Schumacher was placed into an induced coma and was brought home in September 2014, with his medical condition since kept private by his family.

Schumacher won two of his F1 world drivers' titles with Benetton in 1994 and 1995, while he claimed five in a row for Ferrari from 2000 to 2004.

His seven F1 titles is a record shared jointly with Lewis Hamilton, while Schumacher achieved 91 race wins over his career, a record Hamilton surpassed in 2020.

The German originally retired from racing in 2006 but returned in 2010 before again retiring two years later.

Schumacher's son Mick used to drive for Haas in F1 and is currently a reserve driver for Mercedes.