Wikipedia cracks down on the use of AI in article writing
As AI enters the world of editorial and media, websites are trying to establish ground rules for its use. This week, Wikipedia banned the use of AI-generated text by its editors – although it failed to completely ban AI from the site’s editorial processes.
In a recent policy changethe site now states that “the use of LLMs to generate or rewrite article content is prohibited.” This new language updates and clarifies previous vaguer language which stated that LLMs “should not be used to generate new Wikipedia articles from scratch.”
AI in Wikipedia articles does has become a controversial topic among the site’s vast, volunteer-driven community of editors. 404 Media reports that the new policy, which was voted on by the site’s editors, received majority support: 40 to 2.
That said, the new policy still makes room for continued AI use in some editorial processes.
“Editors may use LLMs to add basic text to their own texts, and to include some of it after human review, provided the LLM does not introduce any of its own content,” the new policy states. “Caution is advised, as LLMs can go beyond what you ask of them and change the meaning of the text in such a way that it is not supported by the sources cited.”
