LONDON, June 22 — Wikipedia’s co-founder Jimmy Wales has stated that the online encyclopedia does not trust artificial intelligence enough to let it play a direct role in editing articles on its platform. The problem of AI “hallucinations” – in which fabricated output is confidently presented – has been reduced with newer AI models but remains “very, very bad”, Wales said on the sidelines of a climate action week event in London. Wales’ statement comes as artificial intelligence platforms increasingly rely on Wikipedia’s content to answer users’ questions.
This has contributed to a significant growth in visitors to the site from AI bots, while human traffic has dropped. The decrease in human traffic is described by Wales as “meaningful” but “not a disaster,” for the online encyclopedia, which ranks among the most visited websites in the world.
The mechanics here are straightforward: Wikipedia’s business model does not directly rely on traffic, as the site depends on donations from users. However, the increased traffic from AI bots does come with a cost, as “hammering us with millions of requests costs real money,” in the cost of running servers, according to Wales. He encouraged AI companies to “pay their fair share” to help offset these costs.
On closer reading, it becomes clear that Wikipedia has already been successful in signing agreements with several tech giants. Wales noted that the site is “starting to block the ones who aren’t behaving themselves, but we’ll see how that goes.” The catch is that while AI may not be trusted to edit articles directly, it could prove useful in alerting Wikipedia’s community of editors to certain niche news that would otherwise be missed.
Follow the money, and it’s clear that Wikipedia’s decision to not let AI edit articles directly is a cautious one. But Wales also sees potential benefits in using AI to support the site’s editors. As he said, “We would not let it edit directly because you can’t really trust it enough,” but AI agents could still play a role in identifying important news stories.
Wales’ comments come at a time when the role of AI in content creation and editing is increasingly under scrutiny. As the use of AI continues to grow, it’s likely that we’ll see more debate about the potential benefits and drawbacks of relying on artificial intelligence to generate and edit content. For now, Wikipedia’s approach is to proceed with caution, using AI to support its editors while maintaining a careful eye on the potential risks.
As we look to the future, it will be interesting to see how Wikipedia’s approach to AI evolves. Will the site continue to rely on human editors, or will it find new ways to harness the power of artificial intelligence?
One thing is certain: the relationship between Wikipedia and AI is complex, and it will be worth watching to see how it develops in the coming months and years.
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