On a new episode of ID the Future, Nathan Jacobson and I continue our conversation with Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger. In this segment, Sanger explains how his philosophy to decentralize the world’s knowledge plays into science and truth-seeking in the age of AI. He talks about the shortcomings of large language models and why humans are irreplaceable and essential to increasing our understanding of the world. Sanger also discusses the challenges that online encyclopedias like Wikipedia have faced in accurately and fairly reflecting controversial or important topics.
Discovery Institute is no stranger to bias on Wikipedia, of course. Look no further than the Wikipedia entry for intelligent design, still to this day defined as “a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God.” Never mind that intelligent design, by default, begins and ends with the scientific evidence to make its claims. It’s the philosophical and theistic implications of the hypothesis that certain admins and editors at Wikipedia can’t stomach. But no such bias is on display in the entry for Darwinism or evolution, for example. Just straight-up, authoritative, technical language with an air of “settled science.” No room is given in those entries to fairly reflect the difficulties with evolutionary theory or the plausible alternatives to the natural selection/random mutation mechanism.
Sanger explains Wikipedia’s early attempts to reflect a neutral point of view. As he points out, these methods attempted to reflect the consensus of multiple points of view through a process of compromise and mutual respect. “This was the initial dream,” says Sanger, “but it was just a dream…Wikipedia does not work that way anymore at all.”
Download the podcast or listen to it here. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Listen to Part 1 or watch it below!
Dig Deeper
- Visit LarrySanger.org to learn more about Sanger’s work and read more of his writing.
- Watch Sanger discuss the urgent need to preserve the world’s information at Discovery Institute’s COSM conference.
- Watch Part 1 of this interview below. Share it with a friend while you’re at it!