The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, published a blog post on Monday urging artificial intelligence (AI) developers to stop illegally scraping data from its pages. Instead, it recommends using the paid Wikimedia Enterprise service, which provides bulk access to content without overloading servers. This paid product helps fund the foundation's nonprofit activities, which depend on volunteers and donors. According to the post, AI companies should ensure proper attribution is given to the human contributors whose work forms the basis for outputs generated by AI systems.
The foundation emphasized that to maintain trust in online information, platforms must clearly cite their sources and encourage visits to and participation in those sources. If the number of visits to Wikipedia declines, it could lead to fewer volunteers improving its content and fewer donations supporting this work. The blog states that AI developers should obtain data through official channels to avoid overloading servers and ensure the platform's sustainability.
The Problem of AI Bots and Declining Traffic
Wikipedia recently discovered that AI bots were scraping its content while disguising themselves as human users. After strengthening its bot detection systems, the foundation found that unusually high traffic in May and June came from these bots, which were attempting to evade detection. At the same time, visits from actual human readers fell by 8% compared with the previous year, raising concerns about declining user engagement.
This trend could threaten Wikipedia's future because fewer visits mean fewer volunteers expanding and editing its content, as well as fewer individual donations supporting its mission. The foundation warns that if AI companies do not start using official paid channels, they may lose access to the data. The blog states that Wikimedia Enterprise enables bulk use of content without negatively affecting servers, and revenue from the service supports nonprofit operations.
Wikipedia's AI Strategy
Earlier this year, Wikipedia introduced its own AI strategy designed to help editors with repetitive tasks, language translation, and workflow improvements. These tools are designed to support human editors, not replace them. The foundation emphasizes that the goal is to maintain a balance between open access to knowledge and responsible use of content in the rapidly evolving AI ecosystem.
The appeal to AI companies is part of an effort to adapt to the digital age, in which AI systems draw on its data without proper acknowledgment. According to the blog, AI companies should provide proper attribution to the human editors and contributors whose work underpins AI outputs. In this way, Wikipedia aims to ensure that it remains a valuable source of knowledge even in the era of artificial intelligence.
Sources: techcrunch.com and hindustantimes.com
