As artificial intelligence penetrates the realms of editorial and media, platforms are rushing to set foundational guidelines for its utilization. This week, Wikipedia prohibited the incorporation of AI-generated text by its editors — yet it refrained from imposing a complete ban on AI within the site’s editorial framework.

In a recent adjustment to its guidelines, the platform now articulates that “the application of LLMs to create or modify article content is forbidden.” This updated wording refines and clarifies earlier, less clear language that indicated LLMs “ought not to be employed to produce new Wikipedia articles from the ground up.”

The involvement of AI in Wikipedia articles has sparked a heated debate within the extensive, volunteer-based community of editors. 404 Media reveals that the updated guideline, which was voted on by the editors of the site, received overwhelming backing — 40 to 2.

Nevertheless, the revised guidelines still allow for the ongoing use of AI in certain editorial tasks.

“Editors are allowed to utilize LLMs to propose basic copyedits to their writings, and to incorporate some suggestions post human evaluation, as long as the LLM does not inject any content of its own,” the revised policy specifies. “Caution is necessary, since LLMs may exceed your requests and alter the meaning of the text to a degree that is not substantiated by the cited sources.”