AI responses reduce Wikipedia visitor numbers, jeopardizing the future of the project

Wikipedia's visitor numbers have fallen by eight percent compared to last year, which, according to Marshall Miller of the Wikimedia Foundation, is primarily due to the growth of generative artificial intelligence and changes in information search.

Search engines are increasingly offering answers directly via AI summaries, bypassing traditional websites. In addition, young users are increasingly searching for information via short videos on social networks.

Part of Wikipedia's previous visitor numbers also came from bots that bypassed detection, which the company discovered after updating its detection system.

Although Wikipedia remains an important source of information for AI systems, the decline in visitor numbers may have an impact on the amount of financial donations, for example. Miller appeals to technology companies to encourage users to visit the website and promote transparent content attribution.

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