German magazine fires editor after fake AI interview with Michael Schumacher

April 23 (UPI) -- The top editor of Die Aktuelle has been fired after the German women's magazine published a fake interview with Formula One legend Michael Schumacher created using artificial intelligence.

Die Aktuelle last week had published a photo of Schumacher on the front page of the magazine with the headline "Michael Schumacher, the first interview!" and a smaller secondary headline that read, "It sounds deceptively real."

The magazine had made clear in the article that it was a fake interview written using AI but the Schumaker family said Thursday that they planned to take legal action against the magazine's publisher, Funke Media Group.

Schumaker, 54, suffered a major brain injury in 2013 while skiing that has left him with long-lasting health effects. He has lived in seclusion and avoided the public since the accident.

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

Pohlmann said that Anne Hoffmann, who has led the magazine since 2009, was fired.

In a tribute to the former athlete in January, Formula One noted that Schumacher had 91 wins and seven world titles during his car racing career.