'Quality decays exponentially following AI arrival': Research shows experts and contributors leaving online communities amidst silent 'knowledge reset'

• Generative AI may have unintentionally pushed away some of the highest-quality 'expert' contributors to sites such as Stack Overflow as users increasingly adopted tools trained on their feedback instead
• The issue stems from said users feeling their expertise and effort are unrewarded, with AI often offering the same solutions at a faster pace
• The move is not limited to online coding communities, threatening to spill over into other areas such as classrooms, corporate workplaces, and scientific communities

Research from the University of Auckland on Stack Overflow's demise over the last few years points to an increasingly worrying trend in the software community: the best, or highest-skill, contributors are leaving in droves.

AI, which arguably bridges the gap between most entry-level and mid-range coders and some of the best in the business, might actually be accelerating the latter's exit from online communities, as they feel their efforts are no longer as...

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