Wikipedia remains a vital source of reliable, human-verified information even as AI transforms how people access knowledge
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is making inroads into every sector of human life. People increasingly rely on AI tools to find answers, even to minor doubts in their daily lives. Prominent AI researchers themselves have warned that information provided by AI can be correct, incorrect, misleading or even dangerous. What, then, is the importance of platforms such as Wikipedia, which even ordinary people rely on for information?
Belinta Mbambo, Senior Manager of Global Movement Communication and Wikimedia Foundation's South African Representative, speaks about this in an interview with Mathrubhumi.
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Excerpts from the interview with Belinta Mbambo:
Regarding the survival of Wikipedia in the fast-growing age of AI?
The importance of Wikipedia even in the AI era is highlighted by the fact that there is no AI without Wikipedia. Generative AI platforms use data from Wikipedia as a primary source of information. Therefore, we describe Wikipedia as the ‘backbone of the internet’. Projects including Wikipedia are used daily by more than half of the world's population.
Do you think people will continue to rely on Wikipedia in the future when AI provides information so quickly?
People should definitely continue to rely on Wikipedia because when information is passed through AI, much of it is subject to misinterpretation or alteration. Therefore, it is better to go directly to the original source.
People might now be chasing new trends and paid AI platforms. But our main goal is to keep the information on Wikipedia as reliable and indisputable as possible. To achieve this, Wikipedia editors constantly update and verify information.
Message for the new generation contributing to Wikipedia in the future?
AI might write 10,000 articles in a minute. The best advice for the next generation of editors on Wikipedia is to maintain human intervention and the human touch in everything they write.
This can be difficult, as we don't know what will happen in the next 10 years. Yet my message is this: you are the last line of defence for the truth.
In this AI era, where many questions are being raised about what is real and what is true, you have a huge role to play. You need to do the old, boring job of checking book pages to verify information. It may seem boring, but you are the ultimate guardians of the truth.
Sustainability of Wikipedia?
Our community working for Wikipedia is the most important thing for the organisation. The movement is driven by the people behind it. Therefore, we need to ensure that our existing editors stay while also bringing in new editors from different parts of the world.
We need to pay more attention to how much volunteers enjoy the work they do. Being a volunteer in this movement should be something that brings them joy. All these are the basis of sustainability.
Dream about Wikipedia 10 years from now?
Our fear is that AI writes everything and humans just scroll. We hope that not only reliable information in the public domain, but also oral histories created and certified by communities themselves, should be available here.
Another dream is that the information you write here should be readable by someone in another corner of the world. For that, human-verified translations should be available on Wikipedia.
Whatever happens in the next decade, my biggest dream is for the world to recognise that Wikipedia is always a space of reliable truth.
Published: 09 Sept 2026, 03:14 pm IST
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