The rise of artificial intelligence could lead to the demise of one of the largest online databases: Wikipedia.
AI tools like Google's Gemini and ChatGPT can rely heavily on the free online encyclopedia but it rarely means follow through from users for Wikipedia itself.
The Irish Times Business and Tech Journalist Ciara O'Brien told The Hard Shoulder AI means people don't need to go and read long articles.
"It's yet another thing AI might kill off, or so the speculation has gone," she said.
"We know that AI does a great job of summarising information that it can find on the internet.
"The problem is that if you are getting AI-generated summaries of articles on Wikipedia, why would you bother going to view Wikipedia yourself?
"There's some speculation that this will threaten the very existence of Wikipedia".
A man using ChatGPT on his phone and laptop. Image: JYPIX / Alamy Stock PhotoMs O'Brien said Wikipedia's fall could be similar to the demise of the Encyclopedia Britannica "which Wikipedia effectively replaced".
"Having something like Wikipedia online that was instantly accessible was a gamechanger for a lot of people," she said.
"It's hard to remember a time when Wikipedia wasn't around but it's only been in existence for just over 20 years".
Ms O'Brien said the website had a rough first few years.
"It was frequently the butt of people's jokes because it wasn't always considered as reliable as it is now," she said.
"But because it has built up so much of a reputation for being a reliable source of information, because it's curated by an army of volunteers... it has gained a reputation as a trusted source.
"As such it's made it prime territory for training AI models.
"In a weird, cyclical [way] that may be the very thing that ends up killing it off".
'Not just Wikipedia'
Ms O'Brien said the impact of AI-generated summaries will likely be felt much further afield.
"It's not just Wikipedia that's being threatened by AI because this is going to be a problem for websites all over the place that rely on traffic," she said.
"If Wikipedia's traffic dies off... they're not going to be able to attract new editors and the editors are the people who maintain this vast database".
She added that getting younger editors involved with Wikipedia "might actually help".
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