Iwuala, a professional translator between English and Igbo, expresses concerns about users with little experience who rely on AI translations to enhance the Igbo Wikipedia. She frequently finds herself clarifying during online edit-a-thons and through emails that such translations can deter users, potentially leading to a decline in engagement with the Igbo Wikipedia. She notes that users may become frustrated and return to the English version instead.
This sentiment is also shared by Noah Ha‘alilio Solomon, an assistant professor of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawai‘i. He highlights that approximately 35% of words on certain Hawaiian Wikipedia pages are difficult to understand. Solomon warns that if the quality of Hawaiian content remains poor, it may harm the language’s presence online rather than help it.
The Hawaiian language had previously faced near extinction but has been subject to revitalization efforts spearheaded by Indigenous activists and scholars. Solomon acknowledges the emotional impact of encountering deficient representations of Hawaiian on a significant platform like Wikipedia. He argues that such inaccuracies could mislead users about the language’s true essence and hinder language revitalization efforts.
AI translators, which may incorporate erroneous Wikipedia content into their training data, are producing flawed educational materials for various Indigenous languages, including Inuktitut and Cree. Linguist Richard Compton critiques this situation, recalling a nonsensical volume he reviewed that claimed to be a phrasebook for Inuktitut, illustrating the growing confusion learners may face.
UNESCO reports that a language becomes extinct every two weeks, raising questions about the Wikimedia Foundation’s responsibility to the languages represented on its platform. Runa Bhattacharjee, a senior director at the foundation, states that communities should lead decisions regarding their content. However, it remains unclear how communities can address issues when they lack active engagement to raise complaints or correct errors.
Source: https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1124005/ai-wikipedia-vulnerable-languages-doom-spiral/