Michael Schumacher’s family to pursue legal action over AI interview

A German magazine has used artificial intelligence (AI) to simulate an interview with former Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and now his family said they’ll pursue legal action over the matter.

The German magazine Die Aktuelle released on April 14 promised “the first interview!” with Schumacher since he suffered a serious brain injury in a 2013 skiing accident.

While the magazine did add the line “it sounds deceptively real” to the front cover, the article contained a series of alleged quotes that were generated by AI which was revealed at the end of the article, much to the disgust of many fans.

To actually print on your cover “World Sensation!” “First Interview” and even on the pages only give little hints that it was a AI, it’s absolutely crazy

— Patrick (@RacingStorki) April 19, 2023

A spokesperson for Schumacher’s family confirmed to ESPN and Reuters on April 20 that they will be taking legal action against Die Aktuelle.

The slated lawsuit follows a growing wave of regulatory movements involving AI as governments and courts grapple with how to deal with the rapidly developing technology.

Twelve European Union lawmakers have called for the “safe” and collaborative development of AI in a letter that asked for a universal set of rules on AI development.

The lawmakers asked for a summit to be convened by European and United States leaders to discuss governing principles for the development, control and deployment of AI.

Others could be using AI to deceive in the business world. A financial regulator in California recently took action against multiple companies alleging one used AI to create an avatar that appeared as its CEO in YouTube videos.

AI has recently been used to impersonate other celebrities. A clip of rapper Kanye West purporting to perform a cover of Drake’s hit song Hold On, We’re Going Home recently went viral on Twitter, but the audio was actually generated by AI.

The fact that this AI generated audio of Kanye West doing a cover of Drake’s “Hold On, We’re Going Home” sounds just like the real Kanye is scary and exciting.

The scary part: AI will never be this worst again.

Exciting part: this could unlock new doors of creativity. pic.twitter.com/u5RfmpKTcT

— Aliou Sidibe (@heyaliou) March 31, 2023

Media conglomerate the Universal Music Group is reportedly concerned over such AI-generated songs, having told streaming platforms such as Spotify to block AI-related services from able to harvest copyrighted media.

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