The proliferation of AI-based chatbots like ChatGPT is profoundly impacting Wikipedia, the internet’s most established source of information. Users now prefer to learn from AI systems that use Wikipedia data rather than accessing the site directly.
For years, Wikipedia, considered the most trusted source of online information, has recently experienced a significant decline in traffic. Users are even less likely to use traditional search engines like Google when searching for information. Instead, they are relying on chat-based AI tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini. This has led to a significant decline in Wikipedia’s direct visitors.
Wikimedia Foundation: Knowledge Accessed, But Indirectly
The Wikimedia Foundation, to which Wikipedia is affiliated, states that users are still accessing Wikipedia data, but indirectly. Foundation officials state that the lack of redirects to the site from AI-powered search summaries is a significant problem. Wikimedia is closely monitoring this change and emphasizes the need to establish a more equitable referral mechanism with AI companies.
Wikimedia officials say they are happy for AI systems to use Wikipedia content, but that citing and referencing sources is essential. The statement read: “Chatbots, search engines, and social platforms that use our content should direct users to the source. The sustainability of free knowledge depends on it.”
Today, almost every major language model on the market is trained with Wikipedia data, including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta. Wikimedia Director Marshall Miller says, “Almost every major language model uses Wikipedia data. This content is then re-presented on search engines and social media platforms to answer users’ questions.” According to Miller, if this process doesn’t continue responsibly, the future of free knowledge produced by volunteers could be in jeopardy.
Wikipedia has begun developing new strategies instead of relying solely on user support. The Foundation is working on a new licensing and access framework to enable third parties to use content more responsibly and transparently. Furthermore, updates to the technical infrastructure aim to prevent AI bots from consuming excessive data.
Internet infrastructure giants like Cloudflare are also working on new solutions to limit AI bots’ uncontrolled access to data. However, these efforts may not be enough in the short term. Experts believe that unless AI summaries redirect users to source sites, the threat to platforms like Wikipedia will continue to grow.
