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On October 18, 2026, Richard Cooke argued in The Guardian, offering the judgment that AI is eroding Wikipedia in an existential way. The article notes that Wikipedia has 68 million entries, has been queried trillions of times, and its English edition runs to 5.2 billion words, yet it still labors under the old reputation of "don't trust it." Cooke also traces its humanistic origins: wiki inventor Ward Cunningham drew on constructivism and the concept of wabi-sabi, and the only person co-founder Jimmy Wales hired was the philosopher Larry Sanger. The article also records the first female editor, Gaytha Langlois, the first female biography-page author, Ruth Ifcher, and persistent problems such as gender imbalance. There are currently no subsequent developments.
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Wikipedia is often taken for granted, but its history is fascinating and its future fragileDevelopments
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Richard Cooke says AI is eroding Wikipedia in an existential way
Source:The Guardian Technology
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Oct 18
The Guardian Technology
Wikipedia is often taken for granted, but its history is fascinating and its future fragile
Writing in The Guardian, Richard Cooke notes that Wikipedia has 68 million entries, has been queried trillions of times, and its English version runs to 5.2 billion words, yet it remains stuck with the old reputation of "don't trust it." He traces its humanistic origins: wiki inventor Ward Cunningham drew on constructivism and the concept of wabi-sabi, and the only person co-founder Jimmy Wales hired was the philosopher Larry Sanger. The article also documents the first female editor, Gaytha Langlois, the author of the first female biography page, Ruth Ifcher, and persistent problems such as gender imbalance.