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Predictions of the end of Wikipedia

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"Will Wikipedia exist in 20 years?", a 2017 discussion between academic Yochai Benkler and Wikimedia Foundation executive director Katherine Maher<br>Various observers have predicted the end of Wikipedia since it rose to prominence, with potential pitfalls from lack of quality-control, artificial intelligence or inconsistencies among contributors.

Alternative online encyclopedias have been proposed as replacements for Wikipedia, including WolframAlpha,[1] as well as the both now-defunct Knol (from Google)[2][3] and Owl (from AOL).[4] A 2013 review raised alarms regarding Wikipedia's shortcomings on hoaxes, on vandalism, an imbalance of material, and inadequate quality control of articles.[5] Earlier critiques lamented the vulgar content and absence of sufficient references in articles.[6] Others suggest that the unwarranted deletion of useful articles from Wikipedia may portend its end, which itself inspired the creation of the now inactive Deletionpedia.[7][8]

Contrary to such predictions, Wikipedia has constantly grown in both size and influence.[9][10][11][12] Recent developments with artificial intelligence in Wikimedia projects have prompted new predictions that AI applications, which consume free and open content, will replace Wikipedia.[13]

Personnel<br>[edit]

Admin numbers by year in English wikipedia<br>Wikipedia is crowdsourced by a few million volunteer editors. Of the millions of registered editors, only tens of thousands contribute the majority of its contents, and a few thousand do quality control and maintenance work. As the encyclopedia expanded in the 2010s, the number of active editors did not grow proportionately. Various sources predicted that Wikipedia will eventually have too few editors to be functional and collapse from lack of participation.[5][14][15][16][17][18][19][excessive citations]

English Wikipedia has 814 volunteer administrators who perform various functions, including functions similar to those carried out by a forum moderator. Critics have described their actions as harsh, bureaucratic, biased, unfair, or capricious and predicted that the resulting outrage would lead to the site's closure.[5][20][21]

Various 2012 articles reported that a decline in English Wikipedia's recruitment of new administrators could end Wikipedia.[22][23]

Decline in editors (2007-2014)<br>[edit]

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