Significantly fewer developers are using Stack Overflow because of ChatGPT

For programmers, ChatGPT is an attractive tool as it can be used as a skilled co-pilot for creating, reviewing and improving code. It works so well that users are running away from the online forum Stack Overflow, one of the go-to places for code questions.

Stack Overflow: Declining visitors since January 2022

Probably every programmer comes into contact with Stack Overflow in his career. The question-and-answer platform on the subject of coding is considered one of the contact points in the industry – and in memes it is synonymous with programming with diligent use of copy-paste. Like right now SimilarWeb (via golem) reports, the rapid rise of powerful code helpers such as GitHub Copilot and most recently, of course, ChatGPT can be directly linked to a significant drop in visitors to Stack Overflow.

According to this, the number of visitors to the platform has been shrinking since the beginning of 2022. The analysts assume that the release of GitHub CoPilot will have an initial effect here. Back then, Microsoft had released a plugin for Visual Studio Code that can often make it unnecessary to go the old route on Stack Overflow for questions. The result: “YoY, traffic to Stack Overflow (stackoverflow.com) has decreased by an average of 6% each month since January 2022.”
Artificial Intelligence (AI) infographic: Most users like ChatGPT

This dynamic has accelerated significantly in recent months – in line with the release of ChatGPT, most recently in version 4. In March, the number of visitors to Stack Overflow fell by 13.9 percent year-on-year, and April brought an even greater decline of 17.7 percent. After the launch in November last year, the ChatGPT website (chat.openai.com), on the other hand, is going up at a rapid pace. In March alone, 1.6 billion visits were registered.

See also:

ChatGPT, OpenAI