For 15 years, Stack Overflow has enabled developers and technologists to build and innovate faster. Blending a historic technical knowledge base of more than 59+ million questions and answers with a global platform to connect with and learn from peers and experts, Stack Overflow is the workspace developers and technologists use to stay at the cutting edge.
Let’s be clear, if coding was easy, the world wouldn’t need senior developers or Stack Overflow.
And like senior developers, the Stack Overflow knowledge base and community provides real-time, accurate, and sourced solutions to technical challenges. As technology evolves, individuals and the community collaborate to keep pace.
No doubt, AI was the cutting edge technology in 2023 that everyone was trying to keep pace with. People across industries envisioned AI as being the fuel for thousands of hours of time saved, replacing jobs to reduce costs, and unlocking innovation at a scale we have never before seen. AI is like the discovery of fire—it’s a great tool if you know how to use it, but if you don’t use it responsibly (or use a model built responsibly), it will burn you.
As a company, Stack Overflow’s products are built for the developer and for enterprises, so we understand the needs of developers and the needs of the thousands of enterprises they work for. Developers need tools and resources to produce quality, safe, and secure products, while enterprises need to trust the tools and resources to not introduce risk to their business.
For the last year, Stack Overflow and members of its community have been some of the few voices of balanced reason in the crowded AI space calling for quality sources of information with community attribution at the heart of this accuracy. From the vision of “Community + AI” to the findings of our annual Developer Survey to the launch of OverflowAI at WeAreDevelopers in Berlin. We proceed to face agency on our non-negotiables—high quality and attribution of AI outputs are the one means to make sure accuracy and belief going ahead and drive actual time-savings for builders.
Stack Overflow, as an organization, strongly believes that the group of the world’s most engaged builders and technologists and the solutions they share are what’s going to make sure the success of AI’s future. We consider AI has advanced from being a instrument of builders to being part of the group itself. AIs are greater than the bottom data or underlying “information” layer of the LLM or it is “expertise” layer. Interacting with AI information or experiences in silos introduces danger and will increase inefficiencies as a result of it is saved separate. If, as a substitute, people interacted with AIs like they have been some other group member, transparently collaborating, constructing, and contributing data, the complete group advantages. It’s by combining information, human expertise, and group that we’re capable of assist developer wants.
Stack Overflow is now on a journey to create a brand new period within the follow of AI: the period of social accountability. As we prioritize the continued development of Stack Overflow for Groups accelerated by our GenAI providing, OverflowAI, the addition of time-saving new experiences on the Stack Overflow public platform by way of OverflowAI, and the enlargement of our strategic partnerships—it’s all by way of the lenses of developer flexibility, information high quality/accuracy, and group attribution.
Trying ahead to what we’re utilizing as our basis for product growth,
- High quality, correct, sourced information will likely be central to how expertise options are constructed. Our aim with the latest introduction of OverflowAI is to make sure builders should not solely contributing to the muse of what GenAI is right this moment, they’re additionally an integral a part of constructing its future.
- The worldwide tech group and societal pressures are driving LLM builders to think about their influence on the info sources used to generate solutions. We consider LLM builders have an obligation to contribute again to the communities that create the info they leverage.
In 2024, we’re taking a look at how we will proceed to allow builders and technologists by welcoming AIs into our ecosystem and offering paths for everybody to collaborate with AIs. Our alpha testers are attempting out an early experiment, conversational search, and we’re taking a look at doing extra. AIs will turn out to be one other member of the group—and the group can determine the standard, accuracy, and worth of their contributions.
Our north star is providing a real collaboration between the person, AIs, and a worldwide group—working in unison to resolve issues, save time/frustration for builders, and velocity up innovation responsibly. Now shouldn’t be the time for shifting quick and breaking issues as a result of the folks left fixing the damaged issues are the builders.
By means of the following yr, along with the AI focus, we’ll even be specializing in bettering how customers onboard, interact, and profit quicker, increasing the kinds of content material and experiences we now have on our public platform, and a number of high quality of life enhancements for each Stack Overflow and Stack Overflow for Groups.
Regulate Stack Overflow Labs, our hub for innovation and experimentation, for extra particulars as we construct out our roadmap and share insights into what’s coming subsequent on this new journey.
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A bit about me:
I’m excited to be the brand new(ish) Chief Product Officer at Stack Overflow. My function is to develop the product items of our work and set the location and the community on a path to construct on the excellent success of the primary 15 years of the location. Beforehand I used to be an Working Accomplice at Perception Companions, the place I labored with management groups throughout a 750 firm portfolio to assist construct R&D organizations and refine product technique. Previous to that, I used to be the Chief Product Officer at Carbon Black the place I led an R&D group of over 550 folks. I additionally held government management roles at CA Applied sciences and Rally Software program, in product administration and product supply.
