’s edits on average 105 times – much more than the average of three times for humans. It was worse on the Portuguese version, where each bot reverted another bot 185 times on average, over ten years. On the German version, the droids were much more pleasant to one another – each one changing another's work only 24 times, on average over ten years.
The difference between the Wikipedia language editions can be explained: Portuguese bots are simply more active and edit more articles than German ones, for example. Interestingly, though, cultural diversity is also a factor, Professor Taha Yasseri, coauthor of the paper and researcher from the Oxford Internet Institute, said. Bots designed to work in the same way, or use the same code, sometimes end up disagreeing with each over cultural and language points. And some cultures provoke more arguments and edit wars.
“The findings show that even the same technology leads to different outcomes, depending on the cultural environment," Prof Yasseri told The Register.
"An automated vehicle will drive differently on a German autobahn to how it will through the Tuscan hills of Italy. Similarly, the local online infrastructure that bots inhabit will have some bearing on how they behave and their performance. Bots are designed by humans from different countries so when they encounter one another, this can lead to online clashes.
That's not to say all bots are programmed the same way – the edit wars are a result of a complex and heady mix of software and subjects, ultimately. Prof Yasseri added: "We see differences in the technology used in the different Wikipedia language editions, and the different cultures of the communities of Wikipedia editors involved create complicated interactions. This complexity is a fundamental feature that needs to be considered in any conversation related to automation and artificial intelligence.”
Wiki bots aren’t the only semi-intelligent agents affected by cultural differences. Microsoft’s Chinese bot, XiaoIce, was an angel compared to its American foul-mouthed counterpart, Tay, which was hijacked by 4chan trolls who found a backdoor command phrase to teach Tay filthy words. The contrast in behavior can be explained by taking a closer look at the internet rules in both countries.
The world of AI isn’t particularly friendly, it seems. A recent experiment by DeepMind showed AI bots were driven by competition and had no qualms resorting to violence. ®