Wikipedia's user base is shrinking significantly as people increasingly access information through AI-powered chats.
The Wikipedia Foundation, which runs the online encyclopedia of the same name, has noted a noticeable decline in the number of site views from real users.
Every month, Wikipedia and other encyclopedia projects receive billions of page views from around the world. Wikipedia's algorithms analyze this traffic and separate it into traffic from real users and bots. This classification allows for an accurate assessment of the volume of human visitors and the application of data collection restrictions by third-party bots used to support commercial search engines and AI. As many of these bots are constantly improving and attempting to mimic human behavior, traffic classification methods are updated regularly to ensure maximum statistical accuracy.
In May 2025, Wikipedia specialists recorded an unusually high volume of traffic, likely coming from real users. This necessitated a thorough investigation and updating of bot detection systems. As a result, new logic was applied to reclassify traffic data for the period March - August 2025, revealing that a significant portion of the unusually high traffic in May and June originated from bots specifically designed to evade detection systems.
After reviewing the data, there has been a decline in the number of page views on Wikipedia by real users over the past few months - approximately 8% compared to the same period in 2024. Experts attribute this decline to the growing influence of generative artificial intelligence and social media on information search methods. It is particularly important to note that search engines are increasingly providing users with ready-made answers, often based on Wikipedia content.
The younger generation is increasingly searching for information on social video platforms rather than the traditional internet. This gradual shift is not unique to Wikipedia - many publishers and content platforms are also seeing similar changes as users spend more time accessing information through search engines, artificial intelligence chatbots, and social media.