Wikipedia Won’t Let AI Edit Articles, Cofounder Says
news.com.au
ENRICHED
Details
- Date Published
- 23 June 2026
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 23 June 2026, 02:01 am
Description
Wikipedia does not trust artificial intelligence enough to let it play a direct role in editing articles on its platform, cofounder Jimmy Wales told AFP on Monday.
Summary
Jimmy Wales highlights the persistent issue of AI hallucinations as a primary barrier to integrating automated editing on Wikipedia, noting that despite technical improvements, current models remain fundamentally untrustworthy for factual curation. While AI is excluded from direct content generation, it is being explored as an alerting tool to support human editors in monitoring niche developments. The article underscores the tension between frontier AI companies training on open knowledge commons and the sustainability of those platforms, particularly as bot traffic increases while human engagement declines. This dynamic illustrates the broader challenge of maintaining information integrity and human oversight in an era dominated by large-scale automated data consumption and generation.
Body
Wikipedia won't let AI edit articles, cofounder saysWikipedia won't let AI edit articles, cofounder saysless than 2 min readJune 23, 2026 - 10:18AMAFPWikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales said 'you can't really trust' AI enough to edit the site's articlesWikipedia does not trust artificial intelligence enough to let it play a direct role in editing articles on its platform, cofounder Jimmy Wales told AFP on Monday.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.He added, however, that AI agents could prove useful in alerting Wikipedia's community of millions of editors to certain niche news that would otherwise be missed."We would not let it edit directly because you can't really trust it enough," he said.Artificial intelligence platforms, meanwhile, rely on Wikipedia's content to answer users' questions.That has contributed to an overall growth in visitors to the site from AI bots, while human traffic has dropped eight percent.Others you may likenewsnewsWales, who sits on the board of trustees at the Wikimedia Foundation, which operates Wikipedia, described the fall in human traffic as "meaningful" but "not a disaster," for the online encyclopaedia, which ranks among the 10 most visited websites in the world.The site, created in 2001, depends on donations from users so its business model does not directly rely on traffic.Wales encouraged AI companies to "pay their fair share", because "hammering us with millions of requests costs real money," in the cost of running servers.Wikipedia has already been "very successful" in signing agreements with several tech giants, the founder said."We're starting to block the ones who aren't behaving themselves, but we'll see how that goes."pml-ajb/jhbMore related storiesBreaking NewsTrump threatens prison for damage to Washington Reflecting PoolTrump threatens prison for damage to Washington Reflecting PoolRead moreBreaking NewsTwo children die in France as heatwave blasts EuropeTwo children die in France as heatwave blasts EuropeRead morePolitics‘Open question’: Big issue with tax reformsLabor’s controversial tax reforms have won crossbench support from the very party that branded them a generational failure.Read more