Wikipedia halts AI summary experiment after editor revolt

The Wikimedia Foundation has paused its trial of AI-generated article summaries following fierce opposition from Wikipedia editors. The experiment would have shown machine-generated summaries at the top of articles on mobile devices for two weeks. Emanuel Maiberg reports for 404 Media that editors called the plan a “very bad idea” and warned it would cause “immediate and irreversible harm” to Wikipedia’s reputation. One editor argued the feature would undermine the collaborative editing process that makes Wikipedia reliable. The summaries were created using Cohere’s Aya model and marked with “unverified” labels. Wikimedia announced the pause just one day after revealing the experiment, citing community feedback. The foundation indicated it remains interested in AI features but acknowledged it should have better consulted editors before proceeding.