The Wikimedia Foundation announced an 8% year-over-year decrease in human pageviews to Wikipedia. A blog post by Marshall Miller, from the foundation, attributed the decline to the effects of generative AI and social media on information-seeking habits.
The decline in human traffic became apparent after the foundation updated its bot-detection systems. Miller wrote that this update revealed “much of the unusually high traffic for the period of May and June was coming from bots that were built to evade detection.” This adjustment in traffic analysis uncovered the 8% drop in human pageviews “over the past few months,” correcting previously inflated metrics and providing a clearer picture of user engagement.
Miller identified two primary factors for the reduction in visitors: “the impact of generative AI and social media on how people seek information.” He specified that search engines are “increasingly using generative AI to provide answers directly to searchers rather than linking to sites like ours.” He also noted a separate trend of “younger generations seeking information on social video platforms rather than the open web.” In response to similar assertions, Google has disputed the claim that its AI-driven summaries reduce traffic from search results to external websites.
Despite the traffic downturn, Miller stated the Wikimedia Foundation welcomes “new ways for people to gain knowledge,” arguing this does not diminish Wikipedia’s role, as its content still reaches people indirectly. Wikipedia had initiated its own experiment with AI-generated summaries but paused the project following complaints from its volunteer editors. The shift in user behavior presents specific risks. Miller stated, “With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.” The foundation noted the dedication of its volunteers, citing a recent incident where they reportedly disarmed a gunman at a Wikipedia editors’ conference.
Miller contended that AI, search, and social media companies that utilize Wikipedia’s content “must encourage more visitors” to the website itself. In parallel, the Wikimedia Foundation is implementing its own strategies to address the trend. The organization is developing a new framework for the attribution of its content when used by third parties. It has also established two internal teams specifically tasked with developing methods for Wikipedia to reach new readers. The foundation continues to actively seek new volunteers to contribute to the platform.
Miller also issued an appeal for readers to “support content integrity and content creation.” He wrote, “When you search for information online, look for citations and click through to the original source material.” He further encouraged people to “Talk with the people you know about the importance of trusted, human curated knowledge, and help them understand that the content underlying generative AI was created by real people who deserve their support.”
