Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/CiteCheck:An AI-Driven Fact-Checking Assistant for Wikimedia Projects (ID: 22675178)
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Applicant Details
edit- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Azermite and Ocaasi
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal
edit- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
CiteCheck: An AI-Driven Fact-Checking Assistant for Wikimedia Projects
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2024-07-16 - 2024-12-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
United States of America
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Not applicable
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
I was born in Morocco and got a master's degree in computer science in France. My mentor there introduced me to AI and entrepreneurship. I started a company to help the biggest smart city in Morocco use computer vision with drones. Inspired by the Bay Area, I moved to the US and loved the energy of local hackathons, leading me to join the Wikipedia Hackathon.
At the hackathon, I developed CiteCheck, a tool that helps with the over 500,000 needed citations on Wikipedia. CiteCheck uses AI to find the best sources for an uncited claim with a simple keyboard shortcut using artificial intelligence. This tool won the hackathon!
My goal is to make fact-checking on Wikipedia faster and more reliable. CiteCheck uses modern large language models to quickly find reliable sources, improving content quality and saving time for editors in the process.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
Develop and test AI algorithms for fact-checking: The main motivation is to improve the accuracy and efficiency of fact-checking, addressing the significant backlog of uncited claims on Wikipedia. Developing and testing these algorithms ensures the tool provides reliable and relevant sources, enhancing the credibility of Wikipedia content and saving editors time.
Deploy CiteCheck as a browser extension and user script: Making CiteCheck easily accessible to users through their browsers increases its adoption and usability. Users can quickly generate citations with a simple keyboard shortcut, streamlining the fact-checking process and improving content quality on Wikipedia.
Conduct user testing and gather feedback for improvements: Understanding how users interact with CiteCheck helps identify areas for enhancement. Gathering feedback ensures the tool meets user needs, leading to continuous improvement and a better user experience.
Organize online training sessions for Wikipedia editors: Educating editors on how to effectively use CiteCheck maximizes its impact. Training sessions help editors become proficient with the tool, leading to more efficient and accurate citation generation on Wikipedia.
Create documentation and support materials for users: Providing clear instructions and support materials helps users understand and use CiteCheck effectively. Comprehensive documentation ensures users can troubleshoot issues independently, leading to higher satisfaction and consistent tool usage.
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
Salim Masmoudi (Founder, Nouspo.com) - Project lead, Azermite, PAID
Jake Orlowitz (Advisor, Founder of Wikipedia Library) - Strategic Guidance and Outreach, User:Ocaasi, VOLUNTEER
Kevin Payravi (Technical Advisor) - Technical advisor for the user script and tool, SuperHamster, VOLUNTEER
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
The target participants are Wikipedia editors, researchers, and fact-checkers from the Wikimedia community. Engagement will be initiated through community announcements, direct invitations to active editors, and discussions in Wikimedia forums. During the activities, participants will be engaged through training sessions, webinars, and regular updates. Follow-up will include forms for open feedback, continuous support via email and community forums, and periodic progress reports to keep the community informed and involved.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
No
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
N/A
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
The project idea was discussed with key community members, including Jake Orlowitz and Kevin Payravi, through numerous emails and meetings. These discussions highlighted the project's potential and gathered valuable feedback. Steps taken include sharing initial concepts, seeking advice on technical implementation, and planning collaborative efforts. Community discussions and feedback will be documented on relevant Wikimedia project pages to ensure transparency and inclusivity. Links to these discussions will be provided as they are created.
Link to the Hackathon where all started : https://lu.ma/k84uw71w?tk=6HISzc
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Not applicable
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Open Technology
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Not applicable
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Innovate in Free Knowledge
Learning and metrics
edit- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
In this project, I hope to learn several key things. First, I want to understand how accurately AI can identify and verify sources. This will help determine the effectiveness of our algorithms in providing reliable citations. Second, I aim to assess the impact of CiteCheck on the efficiency of Wikipedia editors. Via the fact-checking process, we hope to save time and effort for editors. Finally, I want to explore how CiteCheck influences user trust in content. Reliable citations can significantly enhance the credibility of information on Wikipedia.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 50 | This includes individuals who will use CiteCheck to assist with fact-checking on Wikipedia. Participants include both new and returning users who benefit from the tool. |
| Number of editors | 40 | These are the Wikipedia editors who will actively use CiteCheck to add or verify citations. This includes both newly registered and returning editors. |
| Number of organizers | 4 | These are the individuals involved in implementing and managing the project. They ensure the tool is effectively integrated and used by the editors. Also, they will actively share the tool and talk about it. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 25000 |
| Wikimedia Commons | |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
This metric represents the number of citations added or improved on Wikipedia using CiteCheck. Currently, there are over 500,000 uncited claims on Wikipedia. Our initial goal is to start modestly by targeting 25,000 needed citations, with the aim to progressively address more uncited claims by providing reliable sources efficiently.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
We will use Wikimedia's built-in analytics tools, browser analytics for the Chrome extension, and feedback forms of active tool users for qualitative assessment.
Financial proposal
edit- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p488P-uojQzCMc0eYHXp1E7B52-uLeKZU33ys1F1vMo/edit?usp=sharing
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
5000 USD
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
5000 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
editPlease add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).