The Evolution of Coordination in a Collective Intelligence System: 25 Years of English Wikipedia and the Emergence of Generative AI

2026-09-15

AI Summary

研究分析了25年来英文维基百科中协调工作的演变，发现参与度下降且编辑更加专业化，并探讨了生成式AI对其影响。

Abstract

English Wikipedia is one of the largest examples of collective intelligence on the Web, sustained not only by article production but also by volunteer coordination and governance. While prior research has examined coordination work in Wikipedia, less attention has been paid to how participation in these spaces has evolved over time. Drawing on a longitudinal analysis spanning nearly 25 years of English Wikipedia, we examine editing patterns across five namespaces covering content, discussion, and governance. We find that participation in coordination spaces has declined relative to content production, particularly in governance areas, with a shrinking core of editors performing an increasing share of this work. Using Markov-based session metrics, we also find that editing has become more specialised, with editors moving less frequently between namespaces. Motivated by recent governance debates around generative AI, we conclude by investigating whether the availability of LLMs has altered these long-term trends. While short-term changes are visible, we find little evidence that generative AI fundamentally changed existing trajectories of coordination and participation.

Problem

• Collective Intelligence
• Coordination
• Wikipedia
• Participation
• Governance

Innovation

• longitudinal analysis
• coordination spaces
• generative AI
• Markov-based session metrics
• specialization