A recent study published in Nature Machine Intelligence reveals that AI has the potential to address inaccuracies and deficiencies in Wikipedia citations.
Wikipedia, revered as world’s largest encyclopedia, serves as the go-to source for information on a vast array of topics. While the non-profit organization benefits from the diligence of thousands of volunteers who routinely scrutinize the veracity and dependability of cited sources, some entries exhibit inaccuracies, contain erroneous data, or link to questionable references.
In a promising turn of events, artificial intelligence (AI) may hold the key to rectifying this issue. A recent study published in Nature Machine Intelligence reveals that AI has the potential to address these inaccuracies and deficiencies in Wikipedia citations.
Engineered by Samaya AI, a London-based company, the neural network named SIDE (Source Inference for Document Editing) has been designed to streamline the process of scrutinizing references cited on Wikipedia pages. It accomplishes this by evaluating whether the sources corroborate the assertions made in the articles and offering alternative references in cases of discrepancies.
The research indicates that SIDE has been trained using a database of reputable references from the website, often acclaimed and favored by editors and moderators. The study further demonstrates that in nearly half of the cases, SIDE aligns with the referenced source in the article, while in the remaining instances, it proposes a superior alternative.
Upon presenting the AI-generated results to a cohort of Wikipedia users, feedback indicated that 21 percent found themselves content with the references provided by the AI, while 10 percent expressed a preference for the existing sources. Interestingly, a significant portion (39 percent) did not exhibit a specific preference.
This development holds promise for bolstering the reliability of world’s largest encyclopedia, Wikipedia as a trusted source of information, potentially benefiting millions of users worldwide. By harnessing the power of AI, Wikipedia endeavors to refine the accuracy and dependability of its vast repository of knowledge, underscoring the transformative potential of technology in the realm of information dissemination.