ChatGPT temporarily banned on Stack Overflow

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Stack Overflow, the go-to question-and-answer site for programmers, is forbidding users from posting responses generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot. The site’s moderators specified that this is but a temporary ban, and that a final decision will be reached after community input. The problem stems from the fact that ChatGPT produces responses that seem valid at first glance, but are completely off upon closer inspection. The moderators note that the “volume of these [AI-generated] answers (thousands) and the fact that the answers often require a detailed read by someone with at least some subject matter expertise in order to determine that the answer is actually bad has effectively swamped our volunteer-based quality curation infrastructure.” It bears mentioning that the site’s users earn points for posts that get liked, which can count in their favor in a tight race for a job.

The moderators’ concern was submitted to the ChatGPT itself, which was tasked with producing arguments for and against the ban. The robot came up with the same argument as Stack Overflow’s moderators: “Overall, whether or not to allow AI-generated answers on Stack Overflow is a complex decision that would need to be carefully considered by the community.” Sounds about right.

⇨ The Verge, James Vincent, “AI-generated answers temporarily banned on coding Q&A site Stack Overflow.”

2022-12-05