As Wikipedia marks its 25th anniversary, questions about trust, accuracy, bias, and the future of open knowledge are more relevant than ever. In a recent interview on ABC Radio Nightlife, Professor Taha Yasseri of SOHAM reflected on the origins, evolution, and continued significance of the world’s largest online encyclopedia.
Wikipedia was launched on 15 January 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger with a simple but radical idea: to provide free access to knowledge and allow anyone to contribute. At the time, this model appeared unlikely to succeed. Encyclopedias were traditionally expensive, professionally curated, and static, while Wikipedia relied on volunteers and open editing. Early skepticism about its reliability was widespread.
According to Professor Yasseri, Wikipedia’s true innovation was not only access to information, but the introduction of large-scale collaborative editing. Drawing on the emerging “Web 2.0” ethos of the early 2000s, Wikipedia demonstrated that digital knowledge need not be fixed. Instead, articles could be continuously updated and improved by a diverse community of contributors. This design choice, he noted, represented a fundamental shift in how knowledge could be produced and maintained.
Over time, concerns about accuracy have been extensively studied. Professor Yasseri pointed to early comparative research, including a well-known Nature study, which found Wikipedia’s scientific articles to be broadly comparable in accuracy to traditional encyclopedias. Importantly, Wikipedia enforces strict policies requiring verifiable sources and prohibits original research, meaning its reliability is closely tied to the quality of existing academic and journalistic sources. While errors and vandalism do occur, active community oversight typically corrects them quickly.
The interview also addressed criticism around bias. Professor Yasseri acknowledged that Wikipedia reflects structural imbalances present in society more broadly. The majority of editors remain male, and many cited sources originate from Western, established media outlets. These factors can influence coverage and framing, particularly on political or historical topics. However, he emphasized that these challenges are not unique to Wikipedia and, in some cases, are less severe than in traditional reference works. Increasing diversity among contributors, he argued, remains one of the most effective ways to reduce bias.
Funding is another frequent point of confusion. Wikipedia is operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization funded primarily through donations from individuals and institutions. Despite its global reach, the Foundation remains relatively small, with most editorial work carried out by unpaid volunteers. Donations support infrastructure, security, and platform maintenance rather than content creation.
Looking to the future, Professor Yasseri discussed the growing influence of artificial intelligence. Large language models, including those used in AI-powered search tools, are trained in part on Wikipedia content, making it a foundational resource for emerging technologies. While AI has the potential to support Wikipedia through improved editing and moderation tools, he cautioned against attempts to replace collaborative knowledge systems with purely AI-generated alternatives.
Ultimately, Professor Yasseri described Wikipedia as a rare example of the internet functioning as intended: an open, cooperative space where disagreement is resolved through evidence and consensus rather than engagement-driven polarization. After 25 years, Wikipedia remains not only a reference work, but a powerful demonstration of collective intelligence at scale.