Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia run by the non‑profit Wikimedia Foundation, has formally adopted a policy banning the use of artificial intelligence tools to generate or rewrite article content on its English‑language platform. The move follows months of debate among its large community of volunteer editors over concerns about quality and verifiability.
In a statement outlining the new policy, Wikipedia said:
“Text generated by large language models (LLMs) often violates several of Wikipedia’s core content policies. The use of LLMs to generate or rewrite article content is now prohibited.”
Two limited exceptions remain under the guidelines. AI tools may be used to suggest basic copyedits to an individual’s own writing and to assist with machine translation, but only if a human editor verifies all changes and ensures that nothing new is introduced without reliable sourcing.
Volunteer editors played a central role in crafting the policy. The updated rule was approved overwhelmingly by the community and reflects ongoing efforts to uphold Wikipedia’s core principles of neutrality, accuracy, and verifiability, which editors argue are often undermined by content drafted by generative AI.
Supporters of the ban say it will reduce the number of poorly sourced or misleading drafts that human volunteers must constantly review and correct. Critics say enforcing the rule at scale could be challenging given the volume of edits Wikipedia receives daily.
The decision positions Wikipedia among the most cautious major platforms in its response to generative AI, emphasising the ongoing importance of human editorial oversight in one of the world’s most widely used reference resources.
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