For 23 years, we’ve been using Wikipedia as our go-to online encyclopedia. But behind the scenes, there’s a global army of volunteers working to make sure the website gives you the right answers — and it’s banking on that human element as its safeguard against the inexorable rise of artificial intelligence.
“People use the front-end, but they have no idea there's this whole world of people doing all these amazing things on the back end,” said Maryana Iskander, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation. “It's like this complex, futuristic, incredible thing.”
Wikipedia was certainly ahead of its time when it was introduced in 2001, offering a treasure trove of free, editable knowledge. It’s hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit charitable arm that is driven by the same ethos as its web counterpart: the free dissemination of knowledge, whether data and algorithms to nonprofits or educational projects worldwide, including in resource-limited settings.
About the author
Anna Gawel
Anna Gawel is the Managing Editor of Devex. She previously worked as the managing editor of The Washington Diplomat, the flagship publication of D.C.’s diplomatic community. She’s had hundreds of articles published on world affairs, U.S. foreign policy, politics, security, trade, travel and the arts on topics ranging from the impact of State Department budget cuts to Caribbean efforts to fight climate change. She was also a broadcast producer and digital editor at WTOP News and host of the Global 360 podcast. She holds a journalism degree from the University of Maryland in College Park.
