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

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16856 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.16856/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 12 of its 46 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 15 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [Keeping Community in the Loop: Understanding Wikipedia Stakeholder Values for Machine Learning-Based Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.04879/) (2020)
- [On the Value of Wikipedia as a Gateway to the Web](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.07385/) (2021)
- [All That's Happening behind the Scenes: Putting the Spotlight on Volunteer Moderator Labor in Reddit](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.14529/) (2022)
- [Wikipedia in the Era of LLMs: Evolution and Risks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02879/) (2025)
- [Quality change: norm or exception? Measurement, Analysis and Detection of Quality Change in Wikipedia](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.01496/) (2021)
- [Exploring the Impact of ChatGPT on Wikipedia Engagement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.10205/) (2024)
- [Evolutionary Trends of Developer Coordination: A Network Approach](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1510.06988/) (2015)
- [Invisible Labor in Open Source Software Ecosystems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.06889/) (2024)
- [LLMs in Wikipedia: Investigating How LLMs Impact Participation in Knowledge Communities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.07819/) (2025)
- [A Latent Space Analysis of Editor Lifecycles in Wikipedia](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1407.7736/) (2014)
- [Communication networks and group effectiveness: the case of English Wikipedia](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.03506/) (2021)
- [When expertise gone missing: Uncovering the loss of prolific contributors in Wikipedia](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.09979/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

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.