Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia, is seeing a major change in user behavior in its 25th year of existence. According to its own analysis of data traffic, the number of views of Wikipedia by humans declined by 8% in 2025, while views by machine applications such as AI increased by 50%. “The appeal and central importance of Wikipedia as a free and neutral source of information remains unbroken even after 25 years,” says Jenny Ebermann, managing director of Wikimedia CH, the local support organization. “At the same time, there is a clear trend toward indirect use of Wikipedia via short answers from search engines, voice assistants, and other AI applications. AI not only reads Wikipedia intensively – it is becoming a significant interface to knowledge.”

As has been the case since its founding in 2001, Wikipedia articles continue to be created and maintained by volunteers. People compile information, evidence, and sources, critically review them, create new articles, and update and expand existing ones. Following a decision by the community, no AI is used in this process. Future use is only being considered for a few selected technical support tasks. Jenny Ebermann: “The commitment of authors, photographers, donors, and other supporters—such as those who organize workshops and projects for volunteers—remains central even in the age of AI.” Wikipedia’s 25th anniversary is being celebrated with a variety of events in Switzerland as well.

Wikipedia as a result of collective intelligence

From Wikimedia CH’s perspective, the direct use of Wikipedia offers clear advantages. AI-generated summaries of available knowledge content are still prone to errors. The origin, context, and links of the information, as well as the evidence for it, are often not recognizable and should therefore be used with caution.

“Wikipedia is an impressive result of collective intelligence that only arises when people work together,” says Jenny Ebermann. “It is controlled by humans, draws on personal experiences and diverse sources of knowledge, and benefits from decentralization and diversity.” Artificial intelligence, on the other hand, is machine-based, centralized, and monolithic. From the community’s perspective, there is no plausible scenario in which the influence of AI can be completely avoided. Therefore, both types of intelligence should be combined, but Wikipedia and its sister projects such as Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata should remain consistently human-centered. The field of open knowledge, which is being systematically skimmed off and fundamentally changed by AI, must play a more active role in this new ecosystem. Back in November 2025, Wikimedia CH, in collaboration with Open Future and the IMD Business School in Lausanne, organized a round table to discuss this complex of issues and develop an informed response to the rise of generative AI (post-event report available here as a PDF). Wikimedia CH will soon publish a draft white paper outlining its vision for the role of Wikimedia in AI development and the new knowledge cycle. This step is part of an ongoing initiative to define a “Wikimedia and AI” mission, which includes developing contexts and forecasts, creating a roadmap for technological development, and actively shaping AI governance.

 

25 years of German and French Wikipedia

Wikipedia is organized by language rather than by country. March 2026 marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the German and French versions of Wikipedia, which are the most widely used in Switzerland:

  • The German Wikipedia went online on March 16, 2001, as the first additional language version after English. Since then, volunteers have created 3,104,454 articles (as of March 13, 2026). In terms of the number of article edits, administrators, and authors, it is the second largest language version worldwide after English.
  • The French-language Wikipedia has been in existence since March 23, 2001. In terms of the number of articles, it is the largest Romance language version and the fifth largest overall. Volunteers have written 2,744,693 articles here to date.

 

For further information and interview requests please contact wikimedia@grip-agency.ch or press@wikimedia.ch.

 

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