Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales says trust is key in the age of AI
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Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, used an image of Big Al and Aubie hugging to talk about neutrality on the internet. Photo: Derek Lacey/Axios
Huntsville native and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales brought his discussion of building trust in the age of AI to Birmingham last week.
Why it matters: He told the entrepreneurial Sloss Tech crowd filling up Birmingham's Lyric Theater that Wikipedia is weathering the current trust crisis by having a clear mission and strong framework.
Catch up quick: Sloss Tech took over downtown Birmingham last week for three days of keynotes, networking and startup programming for more than 1,400 attendees.
- Speakers like Wales, Kickstarter CEO Everette Taylor, designer Talia Cotton and brand strategist Amanda Sabreah shared their stories and advice, and in a pitch competition, startups competed for a $100,000 grand prize.
The latest: Wales was the keynote speaker for the final day of the event Friday, sharing the message from his recent book, "The Seven Rules of Trust," which he spoke to Axios about in April.
- Citing the Edelman Trust Barometer, he notes trust is breaking down in politics, journalism and business, and that the world reflected on social media isn't a true reflection of people's outlook.
- A "pathological optimist," Wales said, "Wikipedia went from being regarded as something of a joke ... but today it's one of the few things that people trust online."
Yes, but: Not everyone sees Wikipedia as neutral, including its co-founder Larry Sanger, and Elon Musk, who contend that the platform has a left-leaning bias.
- "We're going to be neutral, we're going to explain debates, not engage in them," Wales said Friday. "The idea that we have become 'Woke-ipedia,' which Elon loves to claim, it's just ridiculous."
- But that's not saying Wikipedia is perfectly neutral in every case, he added. "Of course it isn't," but if someone flags a biased article, "our response should be, 'Great, come and help us. ... How do we figure out how to make this better?'"
Zoom in: When asked how tech founders should gauge success, Wales told Axios that "you have to find the problem you're working on fun and interesting."
What we're watching: While artificial intelligence isn't yet able to write encyclopedia articles from scratch, Wales said AI is "fundamentally new and fundamentally powerful," and is set to have as big an impact as the internet itself.
- "We are currently looking at AI with a bit of a skeptical eye, but a bit of curiosity," he told Axios.
- Wikipedia is looking to improve its user experience via AI behind the scenes, with things like better search results or comparing two different language articles about the same topic.
The bottom line: Wales made a quick trip from London last week and wasn't able to make it up to Huntsville, but said the conference organizers "kindly agreed to take me to Dreamland."