(New York) Remember what you were looking for in 2023? Well, Wikipedia has the proof.
The English Wikipedia has had more than 84 billion views this year, according to figures released Tuesday by the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization behind the free, publicly edited online encyclopedia. And the most popular article was about ChatGPT (yes, the chatbot that seems to be everywhere today).
Since its launch just over a year ago, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has become increasingly well-known, as the technology makes its way into schools, healthcare, law and even religious sermons . The robot has also contributed to growing debates about the promises and potential dangers of artificial intelligence, much of which is documented on its Wikipedia page.
The second most read article on Wikipedia in 2023 was the annual list of deaths, which sees high traffic year after year – taking fourth and first place in 2022 and 2021 respectively. Individual entries of deceased personalities also attracted considerable interest this year, including pages on Matthew Perry and Lisa Marie Presley.
The 2023 Cricket World Cup ranked third – alongside three other cricket-related entries in Wikipedia’s top 25 articles this year.
The “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, singer Taylor Swift and the TV series “The Last of Us” also appear to have influenced our internet reading habits in 2023.
According to the Wikimedia Foundation, this list of most searched articles was created using data from the English Wikipedia as of November 28. Full-year figures are expected to be updated by the nonprofit on January 3, 2024.