Stack Overflow to Cut Workforce by 28% Amid Rising Influence of AI Chatbots
Summary:
Stack Overflow, a platform for developers and programmers, is set to cut its workforce by approximately 28%, following the surge in AI chatbots. The reduction comes as the company strives towards profitability amid macroeconomic pressures. The company, which saw a decline in web traffic following the release of GPT-4, expects generative AI to cause fluctuations in engagement in the upcoming months. Stack Overflow is also working on "Overflow AI", a tool to leverage community knowledge to provide personalized AI-based solutions to developers.
In the face of the escalating influence of AI chatbots, Stack Overflow, a platform for developers and programmers, is set to reduce its workforce by approximately 28%. This decision was announced by the company's CEO, Prashanth Chandrasekar, on October 16 due to the macroeconomic strain affecting the entire technological domain. Chandrasekar mentioned that the firm strides towards economic stability whilst bolstering product innovation, an objective that precipitated efficient spending this year.
Operating for 15 years, Stack Overflow offers a tech-centric Q&A forum for countless developers, coders, and aficionados. The company doubled its workforce to 540 in 2022, hence the forthcoming cutbacks would affect an estimated 150 employees. Previously, the firm maintained that its web traffic experienced a small dip in contrast with 2022, declining by an average of 5%. However, following the March release of GPT-4, the platform observed a sharp drop in traffic of around 14% in April 2022. The company anticipates that generative AI will introduce fluctuations in conventional traffic and engagement in subsequent months.
Some media outlets specializing in technology like Ars Technica have associated the surge in AI chatbots to diminish the usage and traffic from traditional social knowledge-sharing platforms, with them stating that chatbots can provide more precise assistance than forum posts from the past. AI chatbots like ChatGPT can detect and correct coding errors, indicate optimization options and explain code functionality line by line.
This viewpoint mirrors the assertion of Professor Panos Ipeirotis from New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business in a recent post on October 17. Meanwhile, Stack Overflow seeks to introduce its version of OpenAI's ChatGPT via "Overflow AI", first disclosed in July. The initiative endeavors to utilize the wide-ranging knowledge of the Stack Overflow community to generate AI-based solutions that are personalized and reliable for developers.
CEO Chandrasekar's closing remarks outlined their pursuit of meeting user, customer and partner demands whilst fine-tuning their focus, strategy and maintaining the advancement of OverflowAI. Cointelegraph approached Stack Overflow for their remarks but was directed to the announcement on October 16. Coinhouse, a crypto-exchange firm, also laid off 15% of their staff due to dwindling Web3 interest and an unstable global economy. Earlier, French hardware wallet provider disclosed a 12% workforce reduction.
Published At
10/17/2023 4:33:40 AM
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