- A few days ago, Die Aktuelle magazine offered an “exclusive” interview with Michael Schumacher
- An interview conducted in reality via an artificial intelligence…
- What (re) raise serious questions on the ethical side, and cause the dismissal of the editor-in-chief of the magazine
On April 15, the German magazine The actual offered a real scoop to its readers, with an exclusive interview with Michael Schumacher. Victim of a serious skiing accident at the end of 2013, the man who remains considered one (the?) of the best F1 drivers of all time has never been seen publicly since. The documentary dedicated to him on Netflix has not escaped the rule set by the family, and at no time can we see/hear the pilot (post 2013). Suffice to say that this interview was a real event.
A fake interview, and a real scandal…
Michael Schumacher is thus displayed on the cover of the magazine, with a subtitle that leaves no room for doubt “The first interview!“. The German pilot thus answers various questions… but the trickery was quickly updated, in addition to being displayed discreetly in the magazine. The interview is not real, and the latter was carried out with the Charater.ai chatbot, which allows you to “chat” virtually with celebrities, living or not.
Quickly, the whole world made known its disgust for this practice, while the Schumacher family announced its intentions to attack Die Aktuelle in justice. Recently, publisher Funke not only apologized to the family, but also announced the dismissal of the magazine’s director, Anne Hoffman, who had served since 2009.
“This distasteful and misleading article should never have been published. It in no way corresponds to the standards of journalism such as we, and our readers, expect from a house like ours.” writes Funke on his official website. In recent months, the prowess of artificial intelligence, AI generative images, ChatGPT, other deepfakes are accelerating by leaps and bounds, so much so that it worries some, like Google or Elon Musk.
© Funke
With this new drift, it is impossible not to wonder more about the risks linked to these new technologies, capable of distorting reality and/or creating an alternative reality, sometimes impossible to detect. The (fake) videos of Tom Cruise are a perfect example, and many people attribute these to the actor, when this is not the case.
Recently, a weather presenter caused a sensation in Switzerland. Indeed, since the beginning of the month, the weather report has been entrusted to Jade, a young presenter in the flesh… but who does not exist. Otherwise, how are you?
