How did the Emergence of ChatGPT Impact Stack Overflow – A Literature Review

Abstract

As a consequence of ChatGPTs public release in 2022, software developers and learners of the profession were suddenly provided with a completely new and potentially extremely powerful tool to support them in designing and implementing their applications and answering occurring topic related questions. While, previously, community driven question and answer platforms like Stack Overflow were somewhat unique in their value proposition by providing (the chance for) answers directly geared towards the problems users encountered, they now have an alternative that additionally provides rapid response times. To determine how the emergence of ChatGPT impacted Stack Overflow, a literature review was conducted, exploring its effect on the users participation behavior and their perception. Further, the corresponding implications are discussed, especially highlighting the responsibility of higher education institutions in this context.