Study reveals bot-on-bot editing wars raging on Wikipedia's ...

Since Wikipedia launched in 2001, its millions of articles have been ranged over by software robots, or simply “bots”, that are built to ... SkiptomaincontentSkiptonavigationAdvertisementNewsOpinionSportCultureLifestyleShowMoreShowMoreNewsWorldnewsUKnewsCoronavirusClimatecrisisEnvironmentScienceGlobaldevelopmentFootballTechBusinessObituariesOpinionTheGuardianviewColumnistsCartoonsOpinionvideosLettersSportFootballCricketRugbyunionTennisCyclingF1GolfUSsportsCultureBooksMusicTV&radioArt&designFilmGamesClassicalStageLifestyleFashionFoodRecipesLove&sexHealth&fitnessHome&gardenWomenMenFamilyTravelMoneyMakeacontributionSubscribeSearchjobsHolidaysDigitalArchiveGuardianPuzzlesappGuardiancontentlicensingsiteTheGuardianappVideoPodcastsPicturesNewslettersToday'spaperInsidetheGuardianTheObserverGuardianWeeklyCrosswordsSearchjobsHolidaysDigitalArchiveGuardianPuzzlesappGuardiancontentlicensingsiteWorldUKCoronavirusClimatecrisisEnvironmentScienceGlobaldevelopmentFootballTechBusinessObituariesWikipediaThisarticleismorethan5yearsoldStudyrevealsbot-on-boteditingwarsragingonWikipedia'spagesThisarticleismorethan5yearsoldOvertime,theencyclopedia’ssoftwarerobotscanbecomelockedincombat,undoingeachother’seditsandchanginglinks,sayresearchers“Humansusuallycooldownafterafewdays,butthebotsmightcontinueforyears,”saidaresearcher.Someconflictsonlyendedwhenoneorotherbotwastakenoutofaction.Photograph:NicoleWilder/Syfy/NBCU/GettyImages“Humansusuallycooldownafterafewdays,butthebotsmightcontinueforyears,”saidaresearcher.Someconflictsonlyendedwhenoneorotherbotwastakenoutofaction.Photograph:NicoleWilder/Syfy/NBCU/GettyImagesIanSampleScienceeditor@iansampleThu23Feb201719.00GMTLastmodifiedonTue28Nov201704.52GMTFormanyitisnomorethanthefirstportofcallwhenanigglingquestionraisesitshead.Foundonitspagesareanswerstomysteriesfromthefateofmaleanglerfish,thejoysofdorodango,andtheimprobabledeathofAeschylus.ButbeneaththesurfaceofWikipedialiesamurkyworldofenduringconflict.Anewstudyfromcomputerscientistshasfoundthattheonlineencyclopediaisabattlegroundwheresilentwarshaveragedforyears.SinceWikipedialaunchedin2001,itsmillionsofarticleshavebeenrangedoverbysoftwarerobots,orsimply“bots”,thatarebuilttomenderrors,addlinkstootherpages,andperformotherbasichousekeepingtasks.Intheearlydays,thebotsweresoraretheyworkedinisolation.Butovertime,thenumberdeployedontheencyclopediaexplodedwithunexpectedconsequences.Themorethebotscameintocontactwithoneanother,themoretheybecamelockedincombat,undoingeachother’seditsandchangingthelinkstheyhadaddedtootherpages.Someconflictsonlyendedwhenoneorotherbotwastakenoutofaction.“Thefightsbetweenbotscanbefarmorepersistentthantheonesweseebetweenpeople,”saidTahaYasseri,whoworkedonthestudyattheOxfordInternetInstitute.“Humansusuallycooldownafterafewdays,butthebotsmightcontinueforyears.”Thefindingsemergedfromastudythatlookedatbot-on-botconflictinthefirsttenyearsofWikipedia’sexistence.TheresearchersatOxfordandtheAlanTuringInstituteinLondonexaminedtheeditinghistoriesofpagesin13differentlanguageeditionsandrecordedwhenbotsundidotherbots’changes.Theydidnotexpecttofindmuch.Thebotsaresimplecomputerprogramsthatarewrittentomaketheencyclopediabetter.Theyarenotintendedtoworkagainsteachother.“Wehadverylowexpectationstoseeanythinginteresting.Whenyouthinkaboutthemtheyareveryboring,”saidYasseri.“Theveryfactthatwesawalotofconflictamongbotswasabigsurprisetous.Theyaregoodbots,theyarebasedongoodintentions,andtheyarebasedonsameopensourcetechnology.”Whilesomeconflictsmirroredthosefoundinsociety,suchasthebestnamestouseforcontestedterritories,othersweremoreintriguing.DescribingtheirresearchinapaperentitledEvenGoodBotsFightinthejournalPlosOne,thescientistsrevealthatamongthemostcontestedarticleswerepagesonformerpresidentofPakistanPervezMusharraf,theArabiclanguage,NielsBohrandArnoldSchwarzenegger.Howbotsaretakingovertheworld|DanO'HaraandLukeRobertMasonReadmoreOneofthemostintensebattlesplayedoutbetweenXqbotandDarknessbotwhichfoughtover3,629differentarticlesbetween2009and2010.Overtheperiod,Xqbotundidmorethan2,000editsmadebyDarknessbot,withDarknessbotretaliatingbyundoingmorethan1,700ofXqbot’schanges.Thetwoclashedoverpagesonallsortsoftopics,fromAlexanderofGreeceandBanqiaodistrictinTaiwantoAstonVillafootballclub.AnotherbotnamedafterTachikoma,theartificialintelligenceintheJapanesesciencefictionseriesGhostintheShell,hadatwoyearrunningbattlewithRussbot.Thetwoundidmorethanathousandeditsbytheotheronmorethan3,000articlesrangingfromHillaryClinton’s2008presidentialcampaigntothedemographyoftheUK.ThestudyfoundstrikingdifferencesinthebotwarsthatplayedoutonthevariouslanguageeditionsofWikipedia.Germaneditionshadthefewestbotfights,withbotsundoingother’seditsonaverageonly24timesinadecade.ButthestorywasdifferentonthePortugueseWikipedia,wherebotsundidtheworkofotherbotsonaverage185timesintenyears.TheEnglishversionsawbotsmeddlingwitheachother’schangesonaverage105timesadecade.Thefindingsshowthatevensimplealgorithmsthatareletlooseontheinternetcaninteractinunpredictableways.Inmanycases,thebotscameintoconflictbecausetheyfollowedslightlydifferentrulestooneanother.Yasseribelievestheworkservesasanearlywarningtocompaniesdevelopingbotsandmorepowerfulartificialintelligence(AI)tools.AnAIthatworkswellinthelabmightbehaveunpredictablyinthewild.“Takeself-drivingcars.Averysimplethingthat’softenoverlookedisthatthesewillbeusedindifferentculturesandenvironments,”saidYasseri.“AnautomatedcarwillbehavedifferentlyontheGermanautobahntohowitwillontheroadsinItaly.Theregulationsaredifferent,thelawsaredifferent,andthedrivingcultureisverydifferent,”hesaid.Asmoredecisions,optionsandservicescometodependonbotsworkingproperlytogether,harmoniouscooperationwillbecomeincreasinglyimportant.Astheauthorsnoteintheirlateststudy:“Weknowverylittleaboutthelifeandevolutionofourdigitalminions.”Earlierthismonth,researchersatGoogle’sDeepMindsetAIsagainstoneanothertoseeiftheywouldcooperateorfight.WhentheAIswerereleasedonanapple-collectinggame,thescientistsfoundthattheAIscooperatedwhileappleswereplentiful,butassoonassuppliesgotshort,theyturnednasty.ItisnotthefirsttimethatAIshaverunintotrouble.In2011,scientistsintheUSrecordedaconversationbetweentwochatbots.TheybickeredfromthestartandendeduparguingaboutGod.HodLipson,directoroftheCreativeMachinesLabatColumbiaUniversityinNewYork,saidtheworkwasa“fascinatingexampleofthecomplexandunpredictablebehavioursthatemergewhenAIsystemsinteractwitheachother.”“OftenpeopleareconcernedaboutwhatAIsystemswillultimatelydotopeople,”hesaid.“ButwhatthisandsimilarworksuggestsisthatwhatAIsystemsmightdotoeachothermightbefarmoreinteresting.Andthisisn’tjustlimitedtosoftwaresystems–it’struealsoforphysicallyembodiedAI.ImagineACLUdroneswatchingoverpolicedrones,andviceversa.It’sgoingtobeinteresting.” Thisarticlewasamendedon24February2017toaddcommentsfromHodLipsonthatwerereceivedafterpublication. TopicsWikipediaRobotsInternetArtificialintelligence(AI)ComputingnewsReusethiscontentMostpopularMostpopularWorldUKCoronavirusClimatecrisisEnvironmentScienceGlobaldevelopmentFootballTechBusinessObituaries