Wikipedia under threat: AI and short videos are taking an increasing share of the audience from the open encyclopedia
The Wikimedia Foundation published a report on new user trends on Wikipedia. According to updated data, the number of page views by actual people decreased by approximately 8% compared to the same period in 2024. The reason is the growing popularity of generative AI, chatbots, and social networks, which increasingly use Wikipedia content without directing users to the online encyclopedia.
What the revised statistics showed:
- There was a spike in "human" traffic in May-June 2025, especially from Brazil.
- After updating classification algorithms, it was found that a significant portion of this traffic was generated by bots masquerading as people.
- Reclassification of data from March–August allowed a more accurate assessment of actual views and revealed a steady decline in interest in direct visits to Wikipedia.
The main reason for the decline in Wikipedia traffic is the popularization of AI and chatbots, which help users find information faster and present it in a concise and accessible form, which attracts people more.
The Wikimedia Foundation analysis showed that:
- most large language models (LLMs) are trained on Wikipedia data;
- search engines and social networks use its articles to generate responses, not always citing the source;
- this reduces user engagement: fewer views mean fewer new editors and donations.
Besides AI, young people prefer to seek information in short videos on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, bypassing traditional sites.
Wikipedia remains one of the most reliable sources of knowledge, but its role is becoming invisible — the content is read without visiting the resource itself.
The Foundation urges users to support open knowledge: follow links, check sources, and highlight the importance of human contributions to Wikipedia. Active participants are invited to test new tools and participate in discussions about the project's future.
Recall that Wikipedia's position may falter even more soon, as Elon Musk launches his open platform Grokipedia — a resource with more lenient rules than Wikipedia and without strict adherence to sources of information.
Source: Diff Wikipedia
