I would share that I don't fully understand the current WMF procedure for project
proposals. I noticed an April 14 email in this mailing list about forming a new taskforce
on these topics
(
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org…).
So, when it comes to expectations for a project proposal, the current WMF process,
procedure, and related definitions of success for a proposal, I have more questions than
answers.
James, thank you. I see your points and, as envisioned, teambuilding for the Wikianswers
project would welcome participants from both within and outside of the WMF movement. I
anticipate a considerable excitement with respect to combinations of AI and Wiki
platforms, infrastructure, and search. Hopefully the Wikianswers proposal indicates some
of the possibilities and opportunities in these regards to interested researchers and
developers (
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikianswers).
Best regards,
Adam
P.S.: Thank you for the discussion thus far. I'm still considering the epistemology of
which AI-generated multimodal answers would be cacheable, editable, and thus correctable
by a community of editors.
________________________________
From: James Heilman <jmh649(a)gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2023 6:28 PM
To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Re: Wikianswers Proposal
Setting up a project outside the WMF would be much easier to start with. One can then
trial the idea and if successful the movement may then be willing to have the WMF take it
on.
WikiVoyage started outside the WMF by a small group in Germany (after they split from
WikiTravel). They had an active community and simply migrated to WMF servers.
Similarly we at Wiki Project Med have started NC Commons
https://nccommons.org/wiki/Main_Page Will the movement be interested in this project at
some point? I guess we will see.
James
On Tue, May 16, 2023 at 3:16 AM Risker
<risker.wp@gmail.com<mailto:risker.wp@gmail.com>> wrote:
My plate is full at the moment, and project creation is not a specific interest of mine.
I hope that Adam does not see things as demotivating; creating a new project type *should*
be a big challenge. I do think that those standards need to be significantly revised.
They were all written at a time when the WMF had no problems at all just raising the
target for fundraising, and being successful with the new goal. This year we are dealing
with the reality that the fundraising pool is not unlimited. We have been told flat out
that there are significant limitations to the available human resources required to create
a new project. This isn't 2012 anymore, it's 11 years later, and the world in
which the Wikimedia community operates has changed significantly. We can't just be
doing the same things that we did back in the olden days. It would be setting ourselves
up - as a community and as a potential new project - for failure.
Risker/Anne
On Mon, 15 May 2023 at 13:53, Ilario valdelli
<valdelli@gmail.com<mailto:valdelli@gmail.com>> wrote:
I think that here the proposal is to have a new sister project
(
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_projects).
There is a long list:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proposals_for_new_projects
The concept behind a new sister project is the capacity to build a community and an
enthusastic group of people.
The policy is here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/New_project_process
There is nothing about capacity and risk management.
I wanted to encourage Adam after some very demotivating comments and to look to the
positive aspects that, in my opinion, are present in this idea.
To start his project, he needs 10 interested participants / supporters. Are you
interested?
Kind regards
On 15/05/2023 19:16, Risker wrote:
So....how much does it cost to develop and run an entirely new and different type of
project? Who develops it? How much would the hosting cost on an ongoing basis? Is this
project more important and more needed than an existing project type?
These aren't small questions; they are in fact the questions that need to be asked
every time we come up with an idea (no matter how great the idea) for a new project type.
Contrary to popular belief, there isn't an unlimited budget, and there aren't
unlimited staffing resources for these things. Everything costs real money and the time
of real people, and we as a broad community need to be far more cognizant of the
limitations of these resources, and the likelihood that the financial situation is not
going to change significantly in the coming five years.
Personally, I think this is an idea with possibilities, but it is a very expensive one
because it will need an entirely different way of operating. So...where would be cut
costs to make this possible? Should we close some little-used projects so they no longer
draw on our limited pool of resources? Should we cut back on volunteer/community safety
and resources?
There are always trade-offs. In the WMF annual plan, they talk about some of those
trade-offs. This is another one. New, different projects need to be able to justify
their cost and existence. In fact, in the not-too-distant future, I can foresee that some
minimal-use projects may also have to justify their existence. I am all in favour of
being visionary - but I'm also in favour of planting these visions in solid ground.
Risker/Anne
On Mon, 15 May 2023 at 12:19, Ilario Valdelli
<valdelli@gmail.com<mailto:valdelli@gmail.com>> wrote:
I like the idea.
Sometimes people need a simple answer.
At the moment to receive an answer from Wikipedia for some articles people need a Phd.
A solution like that can give a smart and quick and understable answer.
Kind regards
On Mon, 15 May 2023, 11:48 Adam Sobieski,
<adamsobieski@hotmail.com<mailto:adamsobieski@hotmail.com>> wrote:
Wikimedia,
Per the recent interest in and discussions about artificial intelligence in this mailing
list, I am pleased to indicate the Wikianswers project proposal. The proposal describes
some approaches for integrating these technologies (e.g., multimodal dialogue systems,
chatbots, and question-answering systems) with existing Wiki platforms.
"Wikianswers would be a large-scale, user-editable cache of multimodal answers from
artificial intelligence systems, e.g., one or more large language models, which tightly
integrates with Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Commons."
This project proposal is described in more detail here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikianswers .
Thank you. Please feel free to review the project proposal and to comment either here or
there with any opinions, questions, feedback, or suggestions.
Best regards,
Adam Sobieski
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Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens
Association pour l’avancement des connaissances libre
Associazione per il sostegno alla conoscenza libera
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