Meet the 'bots' that edit Wikipedia - BBC News

ClueBot NG, as the bot is known, resides on a computer from which it sallies forth into the vast encyclopaedia to detect and clean up vandalism ... Wikipediaiswrittenandmaintainedbytensofthousandsofvolunteersacrosstheworld.Those,inturn,areassistedbyhundredsof"bots"-autonomouscomputerprogrammesthatkeeptheencyclopaediarunning."Penisisthemalesexorgan,"theWikipediapageinquestionread.WhilethatstatementisundeniablytrueandthusmaymeritinclusioninWikipedia,itbelongsnowhereinthesite'sarticleonnational supremecourts andtheirlegalroles. WhenananonymousWikipediareaderinSouthCarolinaofferedthatcontributiontothegloballypopularonlineencyclopaedialastweek,ittookjustsecondsfortheblemishtobediscoveredanddeleted.The vandalism wascaughtnotbyareader,butbyasimpleartificialintelligenceprogrammecalledabot-shortforrobot. VirtuallyinvisibleClueBotNG,asthebotisknown,residesonacomputerfromwhichitsalliesforthintothevastencyclopaediatodetectandcleanupvandalismalmostassoonasitoccurs.ItisoneofseveralhundredbotspatrollingWikipediaatanygiventime.ItsroleinrepairingtheSupremeCourtarticleillustrateshowbotshavequietlybecomeanindispensable-ifvirtuallyinvisible-partoftheWikipediaproject."Wikipediawouldbeashambleswithoutbots,"aWikipediaadministratorknownonthesiteasHersfoldwritesinanemail.EnglishWikipediaalonesurpassedfourmillionarticlesthismonth.Itcontainsanestimated2.5billionwords,equivalenttomillionsofpages,anditis50timeslargerthantheEncyclopaediaBritannica.Wikipediaismaintainedacrossalllanguagesbytensofthousandsofeditors-about77,000ofwhommakemorethanfiveeditsamonth.Buttheprojectissovast,anditsmaintenancesolabour-intensivethatitdefiesthecapabilityofitshumanadministratorsandeditorstokeepitinorder.Zappingwiki-vandalsThatiswherethebotscomein."Wehadajokethatonedayallthebotsshouldgoonstrikejusttomakeeveryoneappreciatehowmuchworktheydo,"saysChrisGrant,a19-year-oldstudentinPerth,AustraliawhoisontheWikipediacommitteethatsupervisesthebots."Thesitewoulddemandmuchmoreworkfromallofusandtheeditorburnoutratewouldbemuchhigher."Thebotsperformawiderangeofeditorialandadministrativetasksthataretedious,repetitiveandtime-consumingbutvital.Theydeletevandalismandfoullanguage,organiseandcatalogueentries,andhandlethereamsofbehind-the-scenesworkthatkeeptheencyclopaediarunningsmoothlyandefficientlyandkeepitsappearanceneatanduniforminstyle.Inbrick-and-mortarlibraryterms,botsareakintothestudentswhoshelvebooks,movestacksfromonerangetoanother,affixbarcodestobookspinesandperformothergrunttasksthatallowthetrainedlibrarianstoconcentrateonacquisitionsandpolicy.Canbotswrite?"WikipediahasjustgrownsomuchthatIdon'tknowhowwellpeoplewouldhandleitifallthebotswentaway,"saysBradJorsch,acomputerprogrammerinNorthCarolinawhorunsabotthattracksthetagsremindingeditorstoaddcitationstoarticles.BotshavebeenaroundalmostaslongasWikipediaitself.Thesitewasfoundedin2001,andthenextyear,onecalledrambotcreatedabout30,000articles-atarateofthousandsperday-onindividualtownsintheUS.ThebotpulleddatadirectlyoutofUSCensustables.Thearticlesreadasiftheyhadbeenwrittenbyarobot.Theywereshortandformulaicandcontainedlittlemorethanstringsofdemographicstatistics.Butoncetheyhadbeencreated,humaneditorstookoverandfilledouttheentrieswithhistoricaldetails,localgovernanceinformation,andtouristattractions.In2008,anotherbotcreatedthousandsoftinyarticlesaboutasteroids,pullingafewitemsofdataforeachonefromanonlineNasadatabase.Today,theWikipediacommunityremainsdividedonthevalueofbot-writtenentries.Someadministratorssayastubofanarticlelistingonlyafewpointsofdataisoflittlevalue;otherssayanynewcontentisgood.RoguebotfearsTheupshotofthedisagreementisbotsarenolongerpermittedtowritewholearticles.Buttheirabilitytoperformrotemaintenancefreesuphumaneditorstodoresearchandwriteentriesandcheckoneanother'sworktoensureaccuracy."Idon'tthinkpeoplerealisehowmuchmaintenanceandmetaworkgoesoninWikipedia,"saysGrant.Someadministratorsfeararenegadebotwillonedayinflictcatastrophicdamageontheencyclopaedia.ThinkSkynetintheTerminatorfilms.Thosefearsareunfounded,saysGrant.Forone,abotisnotlikeanautomobile-ifapartfailswhileinoperationitwillshutdownratherthancareenintosomething."You'dhavetohavesomeoneactuallyhavesomeoneprogrammethebottogocrazyanddeleteeverything,"Grantsays.Botswiththerightstodeletepages,blockeditorsandtakeotherdrasticactionscouldonlyberunbyeditorsalreadyentrustedwithadministrativeprivileges,Grantsays.Thebotsdomakemistakes,however,iftheyencounteranewcircumstancetheirprogrammingcannotaccountfor.ClueBotNG,theanti-vandalismbot,hasasmallrateoffalsepositives-editsitmistakesforvandalism,butwhichareinfactlegitimate.SinceWikipediacloselytracksedits,however,mistakescanberepairedalmostasquicklyastheyhappened,administratorssay.Humanwritersneednotfeartheywillonedaybereplacedbybots,thebotmasterssay."Ittakeshumanjudgementtowriteanarticleorproofanarticleorevencleanupgrammarandspelling,"saysJorsch.TopStoriesLive. Russianforcescrawlcloserto'fortress'KyivWhatahistoricpollwinsaysaboutModi'sIndiaPublished2hoursagoNKoreatestedintercontinentalmissilesystem:USPublished1houragoFeaturesWhatahistoricpollwinsaysaboutModi'sIndiaHowAsiaisdividedoverRussiasanctionsHowIndia'sHinduhardlinerscriptedpollhistoryWatch:OurcorrespondentonUkraine'sfrontline.VideoWatch:OurcorrespondentonUkraine'sfrontlineImagesrevealRussiandestructioninMariupolCouldPutinbeprosecutedforwarcrimes?'Ihave20childrenhere,pleasesendhelp'Video'Ihave20childrenhere,pleasesendhelp'Quizoftheweek:WhohelpedDollywriteanovel?'Squatlobster'photobombsShackleton'sEnduranceElsewhereontheBBC'Everybody'sgotthepotentialtostalk'StaceyDooleymeetsvictimsandperpetratorsofacrimethatdevastateslivesThedarksideofbeinganinfluencer...CanaspiringmusicianSashabreakfreefromit?Hassocialmediaaffectedporn?LouisTherouxexplorestheissuewithconsentintheindustryMostRead1Onthefrontline:IfKharkivfalls,Ukrainefalls2JussieSmollettsentencedtoja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