Stack Overflow's Plan to Survive the Age of AI: SoylentNews Submission

Accepted submission by oaklandwatch at 2025-05-29 18:33:53 from the best answer dept.

oaklandwatch [soylentnews.org] writes:

Stack Overflow will test paying experts to answer questions. That's one of many radical experiments they're now trying to stave off an AI-induced death spiral [thenewstack.io].

Questions and answers to the site have plummeted more than 90% [devclass.com] since April of 2020. So here's what Stack Overflow will try next.

They're bringing back Chat [stackoverflow.blog], according to their CEO (to foster "even more connections between our community members" in "an increasingly AI-driven world").
They're building a "new Stack Overflow" meant to feel like a personalized portal. "It might collect videos [stackoverflow.blog], blogs, Q&A, war stories, jokes, educational materials, jobs... and fold them together into one personalized destination."
They're proposing areas more open to discussion, described as "more flexible Stack Exchanges [stackexchange.com]... where users can explore ideas or share opinions."
They're also licensing [stackoverflow.co] Stack Overflow content to AI companies for training their models.
Again, they will test paying experts to answer questions.

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