What Was the Most Searched Topic on Wikipedia Worldwide This Year?

Wikipedia Compiles 'Most Searched Terms' Rankings
'ChatGPT' Tops the List... 'Cricket World Cup' Also Popular

ChatGPT. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

This year, the most searched entry on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia worldwide was the conversational artificial intelligence (AI) service 'ChatGPT' developed by OpenAI.

On the 5th (local time), the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia, announced that the total number of Wikipedia page views this year exceeded 84 billion. Among them, the most viewed entry was 'ChatGPT,' with a total of 49.49 million views.

Launched in November last year, ChatGPT caused a sensation by surpassing 100 million users within just two months of its release. As a result, ChatGPT continued to attract attention throughout the first half of this year, with nearly 100,000 to 400,000 daily views on the English Wikipedia almost every day.

Anusha Alikhan, Communications Manager at the Wikimedia Foundation, said in an interview with the US CNN broadcast on the same day, "It is clear that people wanted to experiment with ChatGPT and better understand the history and context of the technology."

The second most viewed entry after ChatGPT was 'Famous Deaths in 2023.' Following that, India's popular sports events '2023 Cricket World Cup' and 'Indian Premier League' ranked third and fourth, respectively.

Oppenheimer and Taylor Swift Also Popular

Movie 'Oppenheimer' still cut. [Image provided by Universal Pictures]

Additionally, Christopher Nolan's film 'Oppenheimer,' which earned over 1 trillion won in ticket sales worldwide this year, ranked fifth in Wikipedia views, and the real-life figure on whom the film is based, 'J. Robert Oppenheimer,' ranked seventh.

The film is a biographical movie depicting Robert Oppenheimer's involvement in the Manhattan Project, the US nuclear development project, and the process of developing the atomic bomb. 'Oppenheimer' grossed $950 million (approximately 1.2425 trillion won) worldwide, setting a record as the highest-grossing biographical film of all time.

Among celebrities, pop star Taylor Swift, who sparked a craze this year and even coined the new term 'Swiftonomics,' was the most viewed with about 19 million views. Following her was Hollywood actor Matthew Perry, known for his role in the sitcom 'Friends,' who passed away suddenly and received 16 million views.