Re: Do we even know what a good AI Optimization strategy would be for Wikipedia? Re: Re: Google Zero is coming [was Re: Wikipedia at 25: A Wake-Up Call (essay)]
Sage Ross via Wikimedia-l <[email protected]> Mon, 13 Jul 2026 15:44:41 -0700
| Newsgroups | gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation |
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| Message-ID | <CA+QewsNvxmW3hi_ALGpiwPJoQgkNxi-soXui=c6ejk474MxSMg@mail.gmail.com> |
--===============2524469736287852390== Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="000000000000cdbd91065685d687" --000000000000cdbd91065685d687 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Sat, Jul 11, 2026 at 1:59=E2=80=AFPM Michael Snow via Wikimedia-l < [email protected]> wrote: > What we most need is to simplify, to make it easier for volunteers to > steer in the direction we would like them to go. Then they can self-selec= t > according to what meets their interests. I believe the success of Wikidat= a > so far - "success" in the sense that its potential aligns more with "earl= y > Wikipedia" than "early Wikiversity" - is in large part because it provide= s > a vast new space for curation, and has been integrated in a way that make= s > it easy for those interested to go and participate, while it is > simultaneously easy to ignore for those who are less interested. > I think this gets at the heart of it: early Wikipedia was a vast space for curation =E2=80=94 with an implicit curation scope of 'anything you've ever= read'. Since then, there's been a generational shift in how people learn about the topics they care about, and how people share what they know for a public audience. Now there's a wide-open curation space for video. On Sat, Jul 11, 2026 at 10:44=E2=80=AFAM Alex Stinson via Wikimedia-l < [email protected]> wrote: > *Interfaces are cheap, informed curators are expensive* > [...] > Sage's tool is a perfect example of this: perfect for a small market of > users, unlikely to be a "headline" Wikimedia tactic for getting in front = of > users, because Youtube and AI search interfaces already do this exact thi= ng. > I think the market for a video curation space =E2=80=94 especially one that= is part of a continuum with our encyclopedia, putting reliable knowledge sources in context and in conversation with each other, moving ever closer to solid core of shared knowledge =E2=80=94 is not small. YouTube (and other video platforms) are missing exactly this kind of curation space. They are built around serving you new content, and keeping the creators on the content grind, not curating the best of what's already there. If I want to learn about a topic, I don't want every video that matches my search. I want the best videos =E2=80=94 selected by someone who has watched a lot more videos= about that topic than I have, from the most reliable knowers about the topic. If there's something inconsistent or incorrect, or if it represents a particular perspective that isn't widely accepted, I want to see context from someone who curated it in the same way a Wikipedia editor curates the text sources that go into a Wikipedia article. I think the audience for video curation is =E2=80=94 to oversimplify a bit = =E2=80=94 my kids' whole generation. My kids don't made videos, but for the topics they're interested in, they would do a lot better at curating videos than I would... and it would cover a whole lot of knowledge that isn't part of the traditional text ecosystem. So far https://wikiplus.video/ is a Wiki Education side project; we're excited about it, but not quite sure where we want to go with it. But it's already scratching an itch for me personally =E2=80=94 I start there instea= d of Wikipedia when I want to read about something. I'm still first-and-foremost text-oriented, but I keep being surprised at just how much great shared knowledge there is in niche YouTube videos about (some aspect of) an encyclopedic topic. -Sage Wiki Education --000000000000cdbd91065685d687 Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><= span style=3D"background-color:transparent"><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif= ">On Sat, Jul 11, 2026 at 1:59=E2=80=AFPM Michael Snow via Wikimedia-l <= <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]= dia.org</a>> wrote:</font></span></div></div><div class=3D"gmail_quote g= mail_quote_container"><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px= 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><fo= nt face=3D"arial, sans-serif"><u></u> =20 =20 =20 </font><div> <div><span style=3D"background-color:transparent"><font face=3D"arial, = sans-serif">What we most need is to simplify, to make it easier for volunteers to steer in the direction we would like them to go. Then they can self-select according to what meets their interests. I believe the success of Wikidata so far - "success" in the= sense that its potential aligns more with "early Wikipedia" than = "early Wikiversity" - is in large part because it provides a vast new space for curation, and has been integrated in a way that makes it easy for those interested to go and participate, while it is simultaneously easy to ignore for those who are less interested.<br><= /font></span></div></div></blockquote><div><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif"= ><br></font></div><div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><font face= =3D"arial, sans-serif">I think this gets at the heart of it: early Wikipedi= a was a vast space for curation =E2=80=94 with an implicit curation scope o= f 'anything you've ever read'.</font></div><div class=3D"gmail_= default" style=3D""><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div = class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif">Since t= hen, there's been a generational shift in how people learn about the to= pics they care about, and how people share what they know for a public audi= ence. Now there's a wide-open curation space for video.</font></div><di= v class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif"><br><= /font></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><div dir=3D"ltr" class= =3D"gmail_attr" style=3D""><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif">On Sat, Jul 11,= 2026 at 10:44=E2=80=AFAM Alex Stinson via Wikimedia-l <<a href=3D"mailt= o:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>> = wrote:</font></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0p= x 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div d= ir=3D"ltr"><b><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif">Interfaces are cheap, inform= ed curators are expensive</font></b></div></blockquote><div style=3D""><fon= t face=3D"arial, sans-serif">=C2=A0<span style=3D"background-color:transpar= ent">[...]</span></font></div><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"ma= rgin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:= 1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr"><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif">Sage's tool is a= perfect example of this: perfect for a small market of users, unlikely to = be a "headline" Wikimedia tactic for getting in front of users, b= ecause Youtube and AI search interfaces already do this exact thing.</font>= </div></blockquote></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><font face= =3D"arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style= =3D""><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif">I think the market for a video curat= ion space =E2=80=94 especially one that is part of a continuum with our enc= yclopedia, putting reliable knowledge sources in context and in conversatio= n with each other, moving ever closer to solid core of shared knowledge =E2= =80=94 is not small. YouTube (and other video platforms) are missing exactl= y this kind of curation space. They are built around serving you new conten= t, and keeping the creators on the content grind, not curating the best of = what's already there. If I want to learn about a topic, I don't wan= t every video that matches my search. I want the best videos =E2=80=94 sele= cted by someone who has watched a lot more videos about that topic than I h= ave, from the most reliable knowers about the topic. If there's somethi= ng inconsistent or incorrect, or if it represents a particular perspective = that isn't widely accepted, I want to see context from someone who cura= ted it in the same way a Wikipedia editor curates the text sources that go = into a Wikipedia article.</font></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D= ""><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div class=3D"gmail_de= fault" style=3D""><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif">I think the audience for= video curation is =E2=80=94 to oversimplify a bit =E2=80=94 my kids' w= hole generation. My kids don't made videos, but for the topics they'= ;re interested in, they would do a lot better at curating videos than I wou= ld... and it would cover a whole lot of knowledge that isn't part of th= e traditional text ecosystem.</font></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" styl= e=3D""><span style=3D"background-color:transparent"><font face=3D"arial, sa= ns-serif"><br></font></span></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><= font face=3D"arial, sans-serif"><span style=3D"background-color:transparent= ">So far=C2=A0</span><span style=3D"background-color:transparent"><a href= =3D"https://wikiplus.video/">https://wikiplus.video/</a> is a Wiki Educatio= n side project; we're excited about it, but not quite sure where we wan= t to go with it.=C2=A0 But it's already scratching an itch for me perso= nally =E2=80=94 I start there instead of Wikipedia when I want to read abou= t something. I'm still first-and-foremost text-oriented, but I keep bei= ng surprised at just how much great shared knowledge there is in niche YouT= ube videos about (some aspect of) an encyclopedic topic.</span></font></div= ><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><span style=3D"background-color:tr= ansparent"><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif"><br></font></span></div><div cl= ass=3D"gmail_default" style=3D""><span style=3D"background-color:transparen= t"><font face=3D"arial, sans-serif">-Sage</font></span></div><div class=3D"= gmail_default" style=3D""><span style=3D"background-color:transparent"><fon= t face=3D"arial, sans-serif">Wiki Education</font></span></div><br></div><d= iv>=C2=A0</div></div></div> --000000000000cdbd91065685d687-- --===============2524469736287852390== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/JDGJKKLBNHHB6ILHBRCC7P5GAN7VWKGT/ To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave-RusutVdil2icGmH+5r0DM0B+6BGkLq7r@public.gmane.org --===============2524469736287852390==--