Computer-Aided Tagging on Wikimedia Commons: Designing for Human-AI Collaboration in Open Knowledge Work
This work provides insights for designers of human-AI collaboration tools in open knowledge work, specifically for Wikimedia Commons contributors, by understanding the challenges of an AI-assisted tagging system.
This study analyzed 595 community comments and 16 interviews regarding the Computer-Aided Tagging (CAT) tool on Wikimedia Commons, an AI-assisted image tagging system. It identified seven key issues that led to CAT's mixed reception and eventual deactivation, offering community-informed suggestions for improvement.
This study investigates Wikimedia Commons contributors' lived experiences with the Computer-Aided Tagging (CAT) tool, an AI-assisted image tagging system designed to improve Commons' discoverability, searchability, accessibility, and multilingual support. Using a qualitative analysis of 595 CAT-related community comments from 11 wiki pages and 16 in-depth interviews, we identify seven key issues that contributed to CAT's mixed reception and eventual deactivation. We also offer community-informed suggestions for improving the tool. We reflect on the implications for designing human-AI collaboration on Commons and for developing AI-assisted tools that support open knowledge work. This work contributes to HCI and CSCW research by extending the understanding of human-AI collaboration beyond Anglophone, text-centric, corporate platforms.