Wikipedia Turns 25 - Rob Horowitz

Wikipedia Turns 25 - Rob Horowitz

In many ways, the internet age has failed to deliver on the idealistic vision of its founders and early adherents.  In fact, the polarizing and isolating effects of social media and hours spent online have driven some profoundly negative outcomes: increased mental health struggles for our youth, the loneliness epidemic, and adults retreating into siloed, politically safe spaces where they choose news that reflects their ideology and only communicate with people with whom they agree.

 

One area, however, where the internet has fulfilled its potential is in the richness of information that is just a click away.  There is more information at our fingertips today than at any other time in our history. For people seeking facts or willing to sample a broad array of different opinions, the amount of useful information available online is seemingly endless.

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One prominent example is Wikipedia. Launched on January 15, 2001, the ambitious vision of its founders to create a free online encyclopedia written by volunteers has come to fruition. As Wikipedia itself accurately proclaims, it is now “the largest collection of open knowledge in history.”   “There are over 66 million articles across all languages on Wikipedia," Pew Research Center reports. More than 15 million people have made at least one edit on Wikipedia in English alone.

 

Wikipedia articles rack up an average of 508 million views every day, according to Pew. About half of these views are for articles in English.  It is a top source of Google search results.

 

Overcoming initial skepticism, Wikipedia has earned its hard-won reputation for providing accurate information, demonstrating how its “wisdom of crowds” approach to editing, when governed by thoughtful procedures, can work on a large scale.  It’s now widely acknowledged that accuracy is why developers of artificial intelligence (AI) are employing it to train the large language models that power this new technology.

 

In an online world plagued by disinformation and misinformation--spread liberally on social media where platforms, by and large, have abandoned any fact-checking -- having a recognized and generally reliable site to visit to separate fact from fiction is essential. Wikipedia performs that crucial role.  Its credibility is enhanced by its adherence to “neutral point of view” guidelines.

 

Happy Birthday, Wikipedia!  As we enter the brave new world of AI with its impact on our information systems still largely to be determined, we truly need you to be around for many more years, continually innovating and adapting to meet the new challenges that are bound to unfold.