Wikipedia's Co-Founder Addresses Skepticism About Elon Musk's Grokipedia

Wikipedia's co-founder, Jimmy Wales, has voiced concerns regarding the trust people might place in Elon Musk's Grokipedia, a new AI-based encyclopedia.

Launched after repeated claims of ideological bias against Wikipedia, Elon Musk introduced Grokipedia. In a conversation with The Verge, Wales mentioned he has only superficially examined Grokipedia.

In response to being asked about Grokipedia, Wales reflected on the criticism it has received. He stated, "The criticisms it faces don't surprise me. The concept of trust here is tricky; an encyclopedia that may be biased is hard to rely on."

Highlighting the disparity between his methodology and Musk's, Wales elaborated that he prefers initiating discussions when he encounters issues on Wikipedia, as opposed to Musk's likely direct intervention approach.

Musk is known for his hands-on management style, influencing how his companies operate. For instance, during his acquisition of Twitter, he reportedly altered its algorithms to boost the visibility of his tweets, as revealed by author Zoe Schiffer.

Wales raised concerns about Grokipedia's dependence on 'Grok,' a large language model developed by xAI, for entry creation and modification. He remarked, "I frequently use large language models and am well aware of the issues they present, such as producing misleading information. They're inadequate for crafting a reliable encyclopedia."

Wikipedia allows AI bots to gather its content, potentially preventing users from defecting to Grokipedia. Observers have noticed that some entries on Grokipedia closely resemble those on Wikipedia.

Moreover, it has been observed that Grokipedia's content often aligns with Musk's political ideology. A comparison by Business Insider highlights political discrepancies between Grokipedia and Wikipedia on subjects like the January 6 Capitol Riots and the Gamergate saga.

Wales concluded, "This may fit Elon Musk’s vision, but it might not align with the public’s expectations for an encyclopedia."

Wikipedia has faced long-standing accusations of a left-leaning bias, including from its own co-founder, Larry Sanger, who departed the platform in 2002 and criticized its supposed ideological slant.

Ambitiously, Musk has likened Grokipedia to a contemporary Library of Alexandria and has futuristic aspirations, such as interstellar dissemination of the encyclopedia.

Grokipedia's growth is evident as it transitioned from 'v0.1' to 'v0.2' since its inception in November, with a notable increase in its article database from 885,279 to 1,089,057 articles.

While Grokipedia expands, Wikipedia remains a formidable giant with more than seven million articles.