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

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.