As AI enters the editorial and media world, websites are trying to define ground rules for its use. This week, Wikipedia banned the use of AI-generated text by its editors — even though it banned AI in the site’s editorial processes.
In recent policy changethe site now states that “the use of LLMs to create or rewrite article content is prohibited.” This new language updates and clarifies the previous ones, vague language It stated that LLMs “should not be used to create new Wikipedia articles from scratch.”
Wikipedia articles contain AI becomes a controversial issue among the site’s expanding, volunteer-driven community of editors. 404 Media informs that The new policy, put to a vote by the site’s editors, received majority support — 40 to 2.
However, the new policy still leaves room for the continued use of AI in some editorial processes.
“Editors are permitted to use LLMs to offer basic copy edits to their articles and incorporate some of them after human review, provided the LLM does not submit its own content,” the new policy states. “Caution is required because LLMs can go beyond what you ask them to do and change the meaning of the text in ways that are not supported by the sources cited.”
