Talk:Wikimedia Foundation/Chief Executive Officer/Updates/April 2024 Update

Is this really a shift or a small parallel trend?

"The shift from a link-based search architecture – which has served our projects and financial model well up to this point – to a chat-based search architecture is in its early days but is likely here to stay." includes a bold claim. is there really a shift? Are there number to backup a decline in link-based search? And is it also fair to say that the current chat interfaces really does a search? Isn't it more of a text generation? ♥Ainali ^talk_{contributions} 09:58, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

Hi @Ainali - thanks for your note. My view is that this is an external trend that may accelerate the effect of disintermediation (e.g. fewer people coming to our website, and thus fewer direct readers and fewer opportunities to recruit contributors). The financial investment in AI and clear product shifts such as Google's deployment of AI in their search business are signs of this shift. The claim I make that there's a shift happening, and the effect on Wikipedia is likely coming in the near and medium term future.

My observation about chat interfaces is that they are interactive, and seem to encourage people feel as though they are very credible. The way information is presented today seems to encourage less "surfing" and more direct question and answering. Based on those observations, I do think it will change search behavior, but exactly how it is adopted remains to be seen. I think the thing to watch watch will be market success of these interfaces for advertising. SDeckelmann-WMF (talk) 22:26, 17 April 2024 (UTC)