The consequences of generative AI for online knowledge communities

A study on generative AI found significant declines in Stack Overflow visits and question volumes, potentially indicating AI reliance for knowledge acquisition. Reddit communities showed no decline. Newer users and simpler questions saw the greatest decrease, raising concerns about community sustainability and LLM training data sources.

• Generative AI like ChatGPT impact online communities.
• Stack Overflow saw a decline in visits and questions.
• Reddit community engagement did not decline.
• New users are more likely to exit communities.
• Complexity of Stack Overflow questions increased.