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Overall, a bad sign for Stack Overflow. When executives write gobbledygook paragraphs such as: “ Since my last quarterly update, companies across nearly every

Overall, a bad sign for Stack Overflow. When executives write gobbledygook paragraphs such as: “ Since my last quarterly update, companies across nearly every sector have experienced significant transformation—whether it’s a more aggressive focus on profitability or a shift in product strategy due to the acceleration of generative AI (GenAI). Thematically, however, one thing has remained the same: companies are committed to driving productivity and efficiency throughout their organizations. At Stack Overflow, we continue to help our customers and community deliver both.” The unclear and muddy writing reveals that their thinking is likewise unclear. Generalities instead of specifics. Vague platitudes. This is poor writing. StackExchange is facing an existential threat and there is nothing in this letter that names it, identifies steps they’ll take to address, or how they will thrive in the new future. It is not unexpected, but a confirmation of what we all might fear.

victor9000 3y ago
My favorite are executives whose products are paying customers of generative AI (aka no moat), yet they parrot platitudes as if they were at the driver's seat.
brandall10 3y ago
"companies across nearly every sector"... err, what? No, just companies built on user generated data which in turn is used to train the models that will replace them.
mensetmanusman 3y ago
This assumes AI will be able to offer support outside the trained corpus of human knowledge and generate code with post-training-date apis. These will probably still require human support and feedback so that subsequent AIs can also support them. This means companies like stack overflow will require licensing and compensation for AI corporations to use new data - it won't be free anymore. Data hoarding is the future, not open data sharing (because everyone will fear being replaced). We will see a more closed future behind paywalls. It will be very expensive for subsequent versions of ChatGPT etc. to be trained with up to date knowledge outside of Wikipedia etc.
- Wowfunhappy 3y ago
  > Data hoarding is the future, not open data sharing (because everyone will fear being replaced). We will see a more closed future behind paywalls. It will be very expensive for subsequent versions of ChatGPT etc. to be trained with up to date knowledge outside of Wikipedia etc. Well StackExchange seems pretty poorly positioned then because their data is under the Creative Commons. (Although notably, I only spend time writing answers on StackExchange because I feel like I'm contributing to an open corpus of knowledge; the license is a major part of that.)
  - maratc 3y ago
    > StackExchange seems pretty poorly positioned then because their data is under the Creative Commons (NAL) the license legally allows others to reproduce the data, so they can't be sued for copyright infringement. But it wouldn't stop SO from implementing rate limits, registration wall, or paywall. They didn't undertake on a mission to freely and openly spread your answers to as many people (or bots) as possible — they only promised not to sue for copyright.
    - Wowfunhappy 3y ago
      It's all available for the taking: https://archive.org/details/stackexchange https://archive.org/details/stackexchange They could stop updating this going forward, but the moat of content they've built from their launch until today is freely available.
bachmeier 3y ago
There's an existential threat, but I it's more than just GenAI. SO is such an easy target for many reasons: Creation of an extremely hostile culture to users (how do you change it now?) Old information that's no longer relevant yet "close culture" prevents anyone from posting "duplicate" questions even when they're needed. A reputation among the newer generation that SO is "read only". High schoolers learning to program would never dare to ask a question there. As a business, SO has no value.
- p-e-w 3y ago
  > Creation of an extremely hostile culture to users (how do you change it now?) By changing the community guidelines to prohibit such behavior, and then aggressively banning users who engage in it. Of all the problems Stack Overflow faces, this one would be the easiest to solve, but the people who run the site have made it abundantly clear long ago that they just don't give a fuck.
mtkhaos 3y ago
Appreciate how you dug into the text. It's the same rigor each site owner should be take to maintain a coherent work environment in this age. Otherwise we will all just speak gobblygook nodding along while our tools do the job for us. Not my personal signage
ryandrake 3y ago
A lot of people have gotten very high up on the corporate totem pole for their ability to string together vague muddy bullshit that sounds pleasantly corporate but says nothing. The ability to write this way has become this weird corporate class signifier. I’ve seen normal people promoted into executive management and then all their emails start sounding like this. It’s almost like someone prompted ChatGPT to write a company strategy email without telling the tool what the company does. I guarantee nobody at the company dares to critique this guy’s writing like you did. His sycophants at the SVP level nod along, pretending the emperor has clothes, and that they all understand what to do now, as they share similar, vague thoughts with their own teams.
- octacat 3y ago
  same with politicians tbh

victor9000 3y ago

My favorite are executives whose products are paying customers of generative AI (aka no moat), yet they parrot platitudes as if they were at the driver's seat.

brandall10 3y ago

"companies across nearly every sector"... err, what? No, just companies built on user generated data which in turn is used to train the models that will replace them.

mensetmanusman 3y ago

This assumes AI will be able to offer support outside the trained corpus of human knowledge and generate code with post-training-date apis. These will probably still require human support and feedback so that subsequent AIs can also support them. This means companies like stack overflow will require licensing and compensation for AI corporations to use new data - it won't be free anymore. Data hoarding is the future, not open data sharing (because everyone will fear being replaced). We will see a more closed future behind paywalls. It will be very expensive for subsequent versions of ChatGPT etc. to be trained with up to date knowledge outside of Wikipedia etc.

Wowfunhappy 3y ago
> Data hoarding is the future, not open data sharing (because everyone will fear being replaced). We will see a more closed future behind paywalls. It will be very expensive for subsequent versions of ChatGPT etc. to be trained with up to date knowledge outside of Wikipedia etc. Well StackExchange seems pretty poorly positioned then because their data is under the Creative Commons. (Although notably, I only spend time writing answers on StackExchange because I feel like I'm contributing to an open corpus of knowledge; the license is a major part of that.)
- maratc 3y ago
  > StackExchange seems pretty poorly positioned then because their data is under the Creative Commons (NAL) the license legally allows others to reproduce the data, so they can't be sued for copyright infringement. But it wouldn't stop SO from implementing rate limits, registration wall, or paywall. They didn't undertake on a mission to freely and openly spread your answers to as many people (or bots) as possible — they only promised not to sue for copyright.
  - Wowfunhappy 3y ago
    It's all available for the taking: https://archive.org/details/stackexchange https://archive.org/details/stackexchange They could stop updating this going forward, but the moat of content they've built from their launch until today is freely available.

bachmeier 3y ago

There's an existential threat, but I it's more than just GenAI. SO is such an easy target for many reasons: Creation of an extremely hostile culture to users (how do you change it now?) Old information that's no longer relevant yet "close culture" prevents anyone from posting "duplicate" questions even when they're needed. A reputation among the newer generation that SO is "read only". High schoolers learning to program would never dare to ask a question there. As a business, SO has no value.

p-e-w 3y ago
> Creation of an extremely hostile culture to users (how do you change it now?) By changing the community guidelines to prohibit such behavior, and then aggressively banning users who engage in it. Of all the problems Stack Overflow faces, this one would be the easiest to solve, but the people who run the site have made it abundantly clear long ago that they just don't give a fuck.

mtkhaos 3y ago

Appreciate how you dug into the text. It's the same rigor each site owner should be take to maintain a coherent work environment in this age. Otherwise we will all just speak gobblygook nodding along while our tools do the job for us. Not my personal signage

ryandrake 3y ago

A lot of people have gotten very high up on the corporate totem pole for their ability to string together vague muddy bullshit that sounds pleasantly corporate but says nothing. The ability to write this way has become this weird corporate class signifier. I’ve seen normal people promoted into executive management and then all their emails start sounding like this. It’s almost like someone prompted ChatGPT to write a company strategy email without telling the tool what the company does. I guarantee nobody at the company dares to critique this guy’s writing like you did. His sycophants at the SVP level nod along, pretending the emperor has clothes, and that they all understand what to do now, as they share similar, vague thoughts with their own teams.

octacat 3y ago
same with politicians tbh