The 404 Media Podcast How Wikipedia Will Survive in the Age of AI (With Wikipedia’s CTO Selena Deckelmann)
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Jan 19, 2026 
Selena Deckelmann, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation, discusses her pivotal role in maintaining Wikipedia's integrity amid the AI revolution. She highlights the importance of the edit button, which empowers volunteer collaboration and ensures article quality. Selena examines Wikipedia's unique governance model and its battle against AI-generated misinformation. She also addresses the impact of chatbots on traffic and the dynamic between AI firms and the platform. Ultimately, she envisions a model that could inspire the broader web.
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Edit Button As A Governance Engine
- Wikipedia is a website built around a single, public "edit" button enabling iterative, volunteer-driven knowledge creation.
- Its governance, transparency, and citation norms make it unusually reliable and resilient online.
Volunteer Newsrooms Respond Fast
- Volunteer groups self-organize into rapid-response teams like "Project Tropical Cyclone" and "London Bridge."
- These groups coordinate coverage and update articles quickly during disasters or major events.
Editing Together Moderates Views
- Collaborative editing exposes contributors to other viewpoints and tends to moderate partisan bias over time.
- Wikipedia's talk pages and neutrality rules promote convergence toward balanced summaries.