Austrian racing legend Helmut Marko has agreed to become an investor in an AI project called “Words that Remain” (Lebensstimmen).
It is now 10 months since he last appeared in an F1 paddock as an advisor for Red Bull Racing. On that night in Abu Dhabi, he saw Max Verstappen fall just short of a fifth straight Drivers’ Championship.
He had been working with the team for 20 years, playing a vitally important role in bringing drivers through. The Dutchman and Sebastian Vettel both won four Drivers’ Championships across that period, with Daniel Ricciardo also victorious on six occasions at the senior team.
While he has continued to give his forthright views to various media outlets this year, the 1971 Le Mans winner and former F1 driver has now invested in a new project.
Lebensstimmen (Words that Remain) is a start-up involved in giving a people a choice to deliver an audio farewell via an AI speaker or their own voice once they pass away. Videos are also an option, via an avatar of the person or through AI. Whether it is at a funeral or at another time, the organisation wants to give an opportunity to those to record a message before their life comes to an end, giving family and friends the chance to hear from a loved one one last time, according to their website.
Lebensstimmen is due to be up and running in full at the beginning of next year.
Helmut Marko on investing in Words that Remain
In a press release, the Austrian said:
“Motorsport was never left to chance; it was improved through the courage to consistently use new technologies for the benefit of people. That is exactly the attitude I recognise in Lebensstimmen – Words that Remain.”
In a video on their website, Helmut Marko added the following about it.
“This project is using very new technology, mainly AI, so it offers a very unique opportunity for the last will and also the possibility that the one who died speaks personally at his funeral.
“It is surrounded by experts and very well educated and trained on the technical and on the law side, and the market I see is worldwide.”
