Wikipedia has updated its editing policies to make clear to all site moderators that they are not allowed to use large language models to generate Wikipedia content.
The only instances where AI will be permitted is in generating translated text for the English version of the site, and in basic copyedits. Otherwise, it’s off the table entirely.
Like many websites, Wikipedia has wrestled with how to handle the paradigm shift in generative AI for online text content. Last year, it rolled out AI summaries on articles, but pushback from editors prompted the platform to halt the feature. Later that year, the Wikimedia Foundation said that the number of Wikipedia page views coming from real humans declined by 8% year-on-year between March and August 2025.
It’s now decided to come down hard on the side of humans. AI is not allowed to write Wikipedia entries because it fundamentally violates several of Wikipedia’s core content policies. These include maintaining a neutral point of view to represent significant views fairly and without bias, and ensuring any challenged material is linked to a verifiable source. Everything in Wikipedia must be attributable in this way, with no original thoughts.
(Credit: Jon Martindale/Wikipedia)
“For this reason, the use of LLMs to generate or rewrite article content is prohibited,” Wikipedia’s editor advice page reads. It does allow editors to use them to suggest edits to their written content, but the human writer must make those changes manually, based on their judgment.
“Caution is required, because LLMs can go beyond what you ask of them and change the meaning of the text such that it is not supported by the sources cited,” Wikipedia warns.
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For editors looking to bring non-English content from Wikipedia branches into the English one, there is some room for LLM use, but it comes with strict stipulations. The editor needs to be proficient in both languages so they can assess the accuracy of the translation when proofreading. They also need to compare the AI translation with the source links for that article, to be sure nothing was lost in AI hallucinatory translations.
Wikipedia will still have to contend with AI bots sapping its bandwidth, but at least this will ensure that the text those AIs are learning from is accurate and human-generated—not some AI ouroboros.
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Jon Martindale
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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.
Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.
Jon’s gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That’s all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.
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