Michael Schumacher 'Interview'
The German magazine Die Aktuelle's 16th April edition carried a front page World Sensation First Interview with Michael Schumacher.
Which came as a surprise to the Schumacher family.
Since the Formula One legend suffered a horrifying sking accident in 2013 he has not been seen or heard in public, and no interview had been granted.
So where had the quotes in the article come from?
There was a clue on the magazines front page. The banner reading Es klingt täuschend echt tells us it sounds 'deceptively real'.
And that's what the article is, deception.
Die Aktuelle took a whole screed of Schumacher speech and plugged it into an algorithm. Then they asked the program a bunch of questions, and wrote the responses up as if it were an interview of the seven time world champion.
The family are considering legal action.
Without knowing what caveats the magazine inserted, and how German law may view the matter, there is little but speculation to offer.
But man do I have opinions.
Recent adverts with a computer generated Alfred Einstein flogging energy are tacky. But at least the man is long dead and there's no attempt to portray it as the ACTUAL Einstein.
This pretence of an interview with someone still alive, but out of public view for ten years, is atrocious.
I can understand some bright eyed wonk hopped up on caffeine and enthusiasm pitching the idea at a brainstorming session.
Beyond that?
Surely there should have been someone in the editorial staff, or legal team, capable of calling out the utter ghoulishness of the idea, and preventing it from happening.
There are journalists who have lost jobs for creating quotes. What punishment for the artifice of a whole interview? Though calling such a thing journalism is to stretch the term well beyond natural limits.
It's journalism in the same way jumping off a pier with a pair of wings strapped to your arms is aviation.
And yet, it is unlikely to be a lone occurence.
And there will be other tweaks. How long before we read of an interview being 'enhanced' by algorithm responses, whereby the person has given answers to questions but maybe they are a bit vague or just dull.
This genie is out of the bottle and there will be numerous unscrupulous folks willing to jump on the bandwagon of fake interviews in search of a dollar.
text by stuartcturnbull. Picture by Philip Myrtorp
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I think it was really disrespectful to publish such a fake interview. I hope they get punished for that.
Seriously shocking and hope the magazine is made an example of as this cannot happen again.
This is really bad I must say and it should be treated accordingly to deter others nurturing that to desist from doing so
Popped in via @dreemport
I believe there are code and ethics in the practice of journalism, the purpose of interview is to attribute a particular information to a particular person, giving a message a face of its own but the moment an interview is fabricated it has lost its primary reason for existence.
I believe before such magazine is published it must have gone through the editorial department regardless of the organisation structure every media house has one, they should have been up to gatekeep such information from becoming public.
What is the point of gatekeeping if not to filter such trashy conduct, it is tragic to see those that are expected to know better doing less than required.
Pop in from #dreamport
There is already enough controversy with AIs and this just fuels that dislike. This use should be intelligent, professional and to improve our lifestyle, not creating fake interviews to make a few bucks.