2025:Program/Defending our wikis against *weaponized* generative AI
Session title: Defending our wikis against *weaponized* generative AI
- Session type: Workshop - 55 minutes
- Track: Community Health
- Language: en
🎥 Session recording: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WIKIMANIA_Day_3_Mombasa_-_Defending_our_Wiki%E2%80%99s_against_Weaponised_Generative_AI.webm 🎥
Generative AI is everywhere, and is here to stay. While it is useful for certain tasks, it can also easily be weaponized to attack and corrupt wiki communities, overwhelming volunteers with endless labor, and inundating our wikis with huge waves of spam, or even with more difficult-to-detect subtle POV-pushing (bias).
How can we defend our wikis against this?
Description
Generative AI is *easy to use*, and therefore *will* be used by bad actors.
Our communities need to *develop defenses* sooner rather than later, and the first part of the session aims to encourage communities to appreciate the risk (which is *already here*). In the second part we will workshop some broad outlines of the various approaches (technology, policies, practices) to combating *weaponized* (not all!) generative AI.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
Our sustainability absolutely depends on how we meet the threat of weaponized AI.
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Average knowledge about Wikimedia projects or activities
Resources
Speakers
- Asaf Bartov
- I have been a practicing (volunteer) Wikipedian for many years; my home wiki is the Hebrew Wikipedia, but I am also active in Wikidata and the Wikimedia Commons, and I make occasional contributions on the English Wikipedia as well, all under my volunteer account. I have a strong background in software engineering, and an abiding interest in literature, education, open access, linked data, and library science.
- At the Foundation, I am working on increasing reach (readers) and participation (editors) in the developing world, through community support as well as partnerships with grantees, other NGOs, and governments.
- My main project since 2019 is the WikiLearn online learning environment. Previously, I had worked on the Community Capacity Development program and as a grants program officer.