Wikipedia, described as the most widely consulted reference work ever created, faces what one academic characterizes as existential challenges from generative AI companies. According to Helen Choi, writing in an article published in AI and Ethics, academics have an ethical responsibility to defend and support open knowledge communities like Wikipedia.
The threat stems from how users interact with AI products. When people use tools like Google’s Gemini or ChatGPT, they receive immediate answers, sometimes with links to Wikipedia. However, most users do not click through to Wikipedia, instead accepting machine-generated outputs without verification. This behavior threatens Wikipedia’s sustainability because the platform operates through a volunteer community that emerges from its own readership. As readership declines, fewer people contribute articles, updates, and corrections—potentially leading to the encyclopedia’s deterioration or closure.
The threat is compounded by how AI companies have obtained Wikipedia’s content. Some have engaged in unauthorized scraping, while others including Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta have paid for high-speed API access to Wikipedia’s pages. According to Choi, this represents a misappropriation of volunteer labor for commercial profit, particularly given that Wikipedia’s five billion words have been crucial for training AI systems.
Choi grounds her argument for academic responsibility in Iris Marion Young’s Social Connection Model, which holds that one’s duty to remedy injustice depends on one’s connection to the processes causing it. Since academics participate in knowledge production, they bear responsibility for addressing injustices within those systems. Academia’s advantages—including access to resources, higher status, and expertise in producing knowledge—position it to defend Wikipedia.
Choi proposes several concrete actions academics can take. They can contribute subject-matter expertise to improve Wikipedia’s content, address gaps, and correct errors. They can cite Wikipedia in their scholarly work, elevating its credibility among researchers. They can teach students to contribute to Wikipedia, providing practical benefits: students gain motivation writing for real audiences, develop information literacy skills, and practice writing without AI assistance. According to Choi, through the Wiki Education Foundation, more than 152,000 students at over 8,000 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have contributed over 125 million words to Wikipedia since 2010.
However, Choi notes that fulfilling these obligations requires institutional support. Currently, most academic evaluations focus on research achievements, teaching performance, and departmental service, with public contributions to Wikipedia receiving little recognition. For academics to fulfill their ethical duties, institutions must formally recognize and resource such work.
Key facts
- Wikipedia faces declining readership as users of AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini accept machine-generated answers without clicking through to source links
- AI companies have obtained Wikipedia’s five billion words either through unauthorized scraping or paid API access, using volunteer-created content to train commercial systems
- Academics can support Wikipedia by contributing expertise, citing it in scholarly work, and teaching students to edit Wikipedia articles
- Wiki Education Foundation programs have involved over 152,000 students from 8,000+ institutions in contributing 125+ million words to Wikipedia since 2010
- About 19% of Wikipedia’s new active editors come from Wiki Education’s programs