Wikipedia pauses AI summaries after editors skewer the idea

Wikipedia is backing off AI article summaries… for now. Earlier this month, the platform trialed the feature in its mobile app. To say they weren't well-received by editors would be an understatement. The Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) paused the test a day later.

The AI summaries appeared at the top of articles for 10 percent of mobile users. Readers had to opt in to see them. The AI-generated summaries only appeared "on a set of articles" for the two-week trial period.

Editor comments in the WMF's announcement (via 404 Media) ranged from "Yuck" to "Grinning with horror." One editor wrote, "Just because Google has rolled out its AI summaries doesn't mean we need to one-up them. I sincerely beg you not to test this, on mobile or anywhere else. This would do immediate and irreversible harm to our readers and to our reputation ...