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What is the most fascinating Wikipedia article that you know of? (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by giallo@beehaw.org to c/chat@beehaw.org

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I just finished reading "Last meal" and it was really something else.

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[–] towerful@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_Wikipedia

So, Scots is an old language from Scotland (like pre-1700). It's been recognised as an actual language, and is making a bit of a come back (although, maybe an "online comeback" because lots of people in Scotland speak Scots or are influenced by it. Scots never really died), and there are many ways to actually write it.

Anyway, this drama came to a point a few years ago on Reddit.
Basically, an American teenager created a bunch of translations of wiki articles. More than a bunch... Like A LOT.
To the point, that some of the translations became referenced in other sources as being factual, despite the fact that they were mostly "English with a Scottish language".
Like, you know how AI generated data might be poisoning AI training? That kinda thing.
So, there is was a huge undertaking to review the Scots translation of Wikipedia, and ensure it is accurate.

[–] schreiblehrling@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Funny example of how a person can „create facts“ nowadays. It’s all about the amount of times a certain thing is being used. Like, when humans started to use bowls back then, eventually bowls became an essential tool. Same with language. It starts to change because people use new words or different words in their normal language. We learn: even Wikipedia can change the language.