The Impact of Generative AI on User Behavior and Platform Governance in Social Q&A Communities
Social Q&A Communities (SQACs) like Zhihu, Quora, and Stack Overflow have become essential platforms for knowledge dissemination and acquisition. Users seek information by asking questions, while sharing insights and answers contributes to collective intelligence, promoting knowledge exchange and distribution. However, the rapid development of generative AI technologies, especially tools like ChatGPT, has introduced unprecedented challenges to the operation and governance of SQAC platforms. Research indicates that as users increasingly turn to AI-generated responses, tools like ChatGPT have significantly impacted platform traffic and reduced user reliance on SQACs. Additionally, as generative AI tools are leveraged in the creation and posting of answers, the platforms' social dynamics and interpersonal interactions undergo changes. This study employs a combination of online and field experiments to examine how users perceive AI-generated content (AIGC) in SQAC responses and its subsequent effect on their perceptions of answerers. The research will also investigate the impact of the platforms' proactive incorporation of AIGC on the behavior of both answerers and askers. The findings will provide SQAC platforms with scientific evidence to tackle the challenges posed by generative AI and offer valuable insights for developing related policies and regulations.