Schumacher and the fake interview, the editor-in-chief who created it fired – Corriere.it

First the fake interview with Michael Schumacher, carried out thanks to artificial intelligence, then the controversies that involved, with indignation, all the German commentators, finally the disciplinary measure with almost inevitable dismissal. The cover story published by the German tabloid tabloid Die Aktuelle expensive ad Anne Hoffman, editor in chief responsible for the contents disseminated by the weekly: the publishing group Funkewhich publishes the tabloid magazine, announced the dismissal of the journalist with immediate effect. Not only.

The publisher’s apologies to the Schumacher family

According to German media reports on Friday 21 April the publisher wanted to apologize directly to the Schumacher family, which had announced plans to sue and take legal action against the tabloid. It was certainly a misleading article that should never have appeared,” admitted Bianca Pohlmann, CEO of Funke —. It’s not the standards of journalism we expect, let alone our readers. The explanation of how the interview had been conducted was too hidden and written in too small letters compared to the headlines on the front page “World Exclusive” and “First interview with the champion since the accident”. The magazine Die Aktuelle not new to invented and lying stories published in the past, but this is the first case in which fake news passes through an artificial intelligence platform. In Schumacher’s case the deception was understood as created on purpose, hence the harsh reactions of all commentatorsincluding columnists for major newspapers such as the The Times British or German bermedienin addition to the disappointment of thousands of fans.

The legal battle

The terms Sensational and First interview on the cover title were judged as too obvious ways to divert the reader from the actual content of the service, considering that the seven-time world champion who has been in a delicate state of health for almost ten years was involved , of which the family has always wanted to keep the utmost confidentiality. Therefore, it would not simply be a question of a historical character or other fictional figures, for which the platforms of artificial intelligence and automatic production of texts have already been involved. On April 20 a spokesman for Schumi’s family had confirmed a espn And Reuters of wanting to sue the magazine, although the rules dealing with AI are still characterized by large legal gaps. Control, development and use of artificial intelligence are still the subject of debate, while twelve European Union legislators have requested the intervention of the States to clarify the number of causes emerging regarding this type of content, even in the world of average. A phenomenon that has spared neither Schumacher, nor other famous cases such as the non-existent duet between Drake and The Weeknd, Pope Francis, the Sony World Photography Awards or the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.