TU Wien DIGHUM

Gordon Burtch: “Generative AI Degrades Online Communities”

Gordon Burtch explains the impact of LLMs on online knowledge communities.

Speaker: Gordon Burtch (Questrom School of Business, Boston University, USA), Moderator: Enrico Nardelli (University of Roma ‘Tor Vergata’, Italy)
Speaker: Gordon Burtch (Questrom School of Business, Boston University, USA), Moderator: Enrico Nardelli (University of Roma ‘Tor Vergata’, Italy)

June 11th 2024

  • 17:00 – 18:00 CEST
  • This is an online-only event.
    See description for details.

On This Page

  • Speaker: Gordon Burtch, Questrom School of Business, Boston University, USA
  • Moderator: Enrico Nardelli, University of Roma ‘Tor Vergata’, Italy

About the Event

June 11, 2024
5:00 – 6:00 PM
(17:00) CEST

We are looking forward to seeing you:
Participate via Zoom (Password: 0dzqxqiy). The talk will also be live-streamed and recorded on the DIGHUM YouTube Channel.

Abstract

Generative artificial Intelligence technologies, especially large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, are revolutionizing information acquisition and content production across a variety of domains. These technologies have a significant potential to impact participation and content production in online knowledge communities. We provide initial evidence of this, analyzing data from Stack Overflow and Reddit developer communities between October 2021 and March 2023, documenting ChatGPT’s influence on user activity in the former. We observe significant declines in both website visits and question volumes at Stack Overflow, particularly around topics where ChatGPT excels. By contrast, activity in Reddit communities shows no evidence of decline, suggesting the importance of social fabric as a buffer against the community-degrading effects of LLMs. Finally, the decline in participation on Stack Overflow is found to be concentrated among newer users, indicating that more junior, less socially embedded users are particularly likely to exit.

Slides

The slides will be available for download after the event.

Video

The recording will be available after the event.