Stack Overflow Shifts Focus to Human Experts Amid Declining User Engagement

Amid the rising popularity of chatbots, the Stack Overflow platform has experienced a significant decline in user queries, with a staggering 64% drop reported by April 2025 compared to the previous year. The platform is now actively seeking solutions to this issue, though it is not planning to utilize artificial intelligence tools in these efforts.

Last month, the company reintroduced Stack Overflow chats across 180 Stack Exchange sites to enhance connections among community members in an increasingly AI-driven world. The platform views these chats as a more immediate means of interaction beyond the traditional Q&A format.

Additionally, the Stack Overflow team is exploring the potential for direct consultations with experts on the platform, who will receive monetary compensation for their contributions.

Researchers from Stack Overflow conducted a survey involving over 600 developers and found that many are currently struggling to obtain genuine assistance. While these users recognize the value of AI, they still prefer human support.

Platform representatives expressed pleasant surprise at discovering that «there are people willing to take part in expert consultations.»

«The new Stack Overflow will be designed to feel like a personalized homepage—a technical aggregator tailored just for you. It can compile videos, blogs, Q&A, jokes, educational material, job postings, and potentially more formats (we would love to hear your ideas!) into a single customized basket. We aim for this space to be your ‘third screen’—an entry point into your own neighborhood on the Web,» said company officials.

In March, Stack Overflow announced that they are considering initial ideas, including expert responses, discussions, more flexible Stack Exchange policies, and more. They are also exploring experimental formats, such as coding challenges.

Nonetheless, the company is integrating AI through partnerships with OpenAI, Google (Gemini), GitHub Copilot, and Microsoft 365 to incorporate Stack Overflow’s data into their tools. Major AI companies are paying for access to the platform’s questions and answers, with plans to reinvest these revenues into the community to maintain content quality.

As surveys indicate that 76% of developers use AI but only 43% trust it for complex tasks, Stack Overflow intends to prioritize the human element for data verification. According to CEO Prashant Chandrasekar, AI is expected to create millions of new developers from various fields, such as finance or art, who will need access to knowledge. Stack Overflow has the potential to serve as a platform for their education.

The ultimate goal is not just to provide access to Stack Overflow’s content but also to enable users to post questions using AI tools. «So that we, as a human community, can respond to them, create new knowledge, and individuals who truly engage with these topics get recognized for their expertise. This new knowledge, of course, can be used for future AI models, and so forth. This is how the world turns… It’s a symbiotic relationship,» Chandrasekar remarked.

In 2024, reports indicated that Stack Overflow would promote Knowledge-as-a-Service (KaaS), tapping into the accumulated expertise of developers in the AI field.