AI Has Basically Killed Stack Overflow

"The data, as accessed through Stack Overflow's own Data Explorer, tells a dramatic story. The number of questions per month fell from over 21,000 in January 2025 to a measly 3,607 by December. Back in the start of 2023, it was fielding 100,000 per month. The issue? Large language model-based tools like OpenAI's blockbuster chatbot have allowed programmers to get coding help with simple text prompts, foregoing the need to take their questions to Stack Overflow."

"There's a meta twist: Stack Overflow signed a partnership with OpenAI in 2024 in an effort to "strengthen the world's most popular large language models" - either leaning into the inevitable or hastening its own demise, depending on your perspective. It's a confounding situation. The company introduced an "AI Assist" feature, described as a "new way for users to access our 17 years of expert knowledge," last month. Yet, as Dev Class points out,"

"Disillusioned users argued that the site's often hostile and " toxic " community has contributed to its decline as well, criticizing the company for allowing moderators to mishandle duplicate queries, for instance. Many users have grown frustrated with being shut down for asking already-answered questions. "Of course, one could point to 2022 and say 'look, it's because of AI,' and yes, AI certainly accelerated the decline, but this is the result of consistently punishing users for trying to participate in"

Stack Overflow served as a major crowdsourced coding repository since 2008, but monthly question volume has collapsed from about 100,000 in early 2023 to roughly 3,600 by December 2025. Data from Stack Overflow's Data Explorer shows steep month-to-month declines, including a drop from over 21,000 in January 2025 to 3,607 by December. Large language models and chatbots have enabled programmers to get coding help through simple prompts, reducing reliance on Q&A posts. Stack Overflow formed a 2024 partnership with OpenAI and launched an AI Assist feature, yet generative AI answers remain banned on the site. Community hostility and strict moderation practices have also driven users away.

Read at Futurism