# Wikipedia’s AI Strategy: Augmenting, Not Replacing, Human Editors

## Wikipedia’s AI Strategy: Augmenting, Not Replacing, Human Editors

Wikipedia has unveiled its new artificial intelligence strategy for the next three years, reassuring its vast community of volunteer editors that AI will be used to enhance their work, not replace them. The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that operates Wikipedia, emphasized that its approach will prioritize human agency, transparency, and multilinguality.

Instead of automating content creation wholesale, Wikipedia plans to leverage AI to overcome technical hurdles faced by editors, moderators, and patrollers. This means AI will be used to develop new features that simplify complex tasks, enabling volunteers to focus on their expertise without wrestling with technical implementations.

The organization will specifically target areas where AI excels, such as automating repetitive tasks. AI-assisted workflows are envisioned to streamline processes and free up editors’ time for more critical human deliberation – the consensus-building crucial to creating, modifying, and updating Wikipedia entries.

Other planned AI applications include improved information discoverability within Wikipedia, automated translation to break down language barriers, and assistance with onboarding new volunteers, making it easier for newcomers to contribute.

“We believe that our future work with AI will be successful not only because of what we do, but how we do it,” wrote Chris Albon, the director of machine learning at the Wikimedia Foundation, in a blog post. He highlighted the importance of adhering to the organization’s core values, principles, and policies, including privacy and human rights.

Albon also emphasized that maintaining the accuracy of Wikipedia’s knowledge base is more critical than ever in the age of generative AI, which is known to sometimes generate inaccurate or “hallucinated” information. By focusing on augmenting human capabilities, Wikipedia aims to leverage the power of AI responsibly while preserving the integrity and reliability of its content.