London: Jimmy Wales said Wikipedia does not trust artificial intelligence systems enough to allow them to directly edit articles on the platform, citing ongoing concerns around AI-generated inaccuracies and hallucinations.
Speaking to AFP on the sidelines of a climate action week event in London, Wales said that while newer AI models have improved, the problem of AI “hallucinations” — where fabricated information is presented confidently as factual — remains a significant issue.
According to Wales, AI systems still produce unreliable outputs that make them unsuitable for unsupervised editing responsibilities on Wikipedia, one of the world’s largest collaborative knowledge platforms.
The comments come amid growing debate over the role of artificial intelligence in content creation, online publishing, and information management. Technology companies are increasingly integrating generative AI tools into search engines, productivity software, and digital platforms, while concerns around misinformation, transparency, and content accuracy continue to attract attention from researchers and policymakers.
Artificial intelligence platforms also rely heavily on Wikipedia content to train models and answer user queries, making the relationship between AI systems and open knowledge platforms increasingly important within the broader digital ecosystem.
Wikipedia currently operates through a community-led editing model in which human contributors review, verify, and maintain content accuracy across articles published on the platform.
Wikipedia is one of the world’s largest free online knowledge platforms, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation and supported by a global community of volunteer editors and contributors. The platform provides multilingual educational and informational content across millions of articles and remains one of the most widely used reference resources on the internet.
