--- title: "Wikipedia Declares War on AI Slop" description: "AI slop threatens to degrade the useability of the digital stalwart Wikipedia — and Wikipedia's editors are fighting back." date: "2024-10-10" modified: "2024-10-10" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/wikipedia-declares-war-ai-slop" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai" - "ai-generated content" - "the digest" - "wikipedia" --- # Wikipedia Declares War on AI Slop ![AI slop threatens to degrade the useability of the digital stalwart Wikipedia — and Wikipedia's editors are fighting back.]() *\Image: Kirill Kudryavstev / AFP via Getty / Futurism\* ## It's On AI slop threatens to degrade the useability of Wikipedia — and its editors are fighting back. As [*404 Media* reports](), a team of Wikipedia editors has assembled to create "WikiProject AI Cleanup," which [describes itself]() as "a collaboration to combat the increasing problem of unsourced, poorly-written AI-generated content on Wikipedia." The group is clear that they don't wish to ban responsible AI use outright, but instead seek to eradicate instances of [badly-sourced](), [hallucination-filled](), or otherwise [unhelpful]() AI content that erodes the overall quality of the web's decades-old information repository. "The purpose of this project is not to restrict or ban the use of AI in articles," the battle-ready cohort's Wikipedia forum [reads](), "but to verify that its output is acceptable and constructive, and to fix or remove it otherwise." ## Slop Spectrum In some cases, the editors told *404*, AI misuse is obvious. One clear sign is users of AI tools leaving well-known chatbot auto-responses behind in Wikipedia entries, such as paragraphs starting with "as an AI language model, I..." or "as of my last knowledge update." The editors also say they've learned to recognize certain prose patterns and "catchphrases," which has allowed them to spot and neutralize sloppy AI text. "A few of us had noticed the prevalence of unnatural writing that showed clear signs of being AI-generated, and we managed to replicate similar 'styles' using ChatGPT," WikiProject AI Cleanup founding member Ilyas Lebleu told *404*, adding that "discovering some common AI catchphrases allowed us to quickly spot some of the most egregious examples of generated articles." Still, a lot of poor-quality AI content is tough to spot, especially when it comes to confident-sounding errors hidden in complex material. One [example]() flagged to *404* by editors was an impressively crafted history of a "timbery" Ottoman fortress that never actually existed. While it was simply wrong, the text itself was passable enough that unless you happen to specialize in 13th-century Ottoman architecture, you likely wouldn't have caught the error. As we previously reported, Wikipedia editors have in some cases chosen to demote the reliability of certain news sites like *CNET —* which [we caught]() publishing error-laden AI articles last year — as a [direct result]() of [AI misuse](). Given that it's incredibly cheap to mass produce, limiting sloppy AI content is often difficult. Add the fact that Wikipedia is, and has always been, a crowdsourced, volunteer-driven internet project, and fighting the tide of AI sludge gets that much more difficult. **More on Wikipedia and AI:** [*Wikipedia No Longer Considers CNET a "Generally Reliable" Source After AI Scandal*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()