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The consequences of generative AI for online knowledge communities
Generative artificial intelligence technologies, especially large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, are revolutionizing information acquisition and content production across a variety of domains. These technologies have a significant potential to impact participation and content production in online knowledge communities. We provide initial evidence of this, analyzing data from Stack Overflow and Reddit developer communities between October 2021 and March 2023, documenting ChatGPT’s influence on user activity in the former. We observe significant declines in both website visits and question volumes at Stack Overflow, particularly around topics where ChatGPT excels. By contrast, activity in Reddit communities shows no evidence of decline, suggesting the importance of social fabric as a buffer against the community-degrading effects of LLMs. Finally, the decline in participation on Stack Overflow is found to be concentrated among newer users, indicating that more junior, less socially embedded users are particularly likely to exit.
Further, to the extent a similar dynamic may emerge within formal organizations and work contexts, it would raise the prospect of analogous declines in organizational attachment, peer learning, career advancement and innovation 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Estimates are obtained via difference-in-differences regression, comparing content posting volumes over a period bracketing the release of ChatGPT (on November 30th, 2022) with a window of equal length observed one calendar year prior. Such work is crucially needed, to better understand the nuances of where and when individuals may rely on human peers versus Generative AI tools, and the desirable and undesirable consequences for organizations and society, such that we can begin to plan for and manage this new dynamic.
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