"Always Nice and Confident, Sometimes Wrong": Developer's Experiences Engaging Large Language Models (LLMs) Versus Human-Powered Q&A Platforms for Coding Support

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: Li, Jiachen, Mynatt, Elizabeth, Mishra, Varun, Bell, Jonathan
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Li, Jiachen
Mynatt, Elizabeth
Mishra, Varun
Bell, Jonathan
author_facet Li, Jiachen
Mynatt, Elizabeth
Mishra, Varun
Bell, Jonathan
contents Software engineers have historically relied on human-powered Q&A platforms like Stack Overflow (SO) as coding aids. With the rise of generative AI, developers have started to adopt AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, in their software development process. Recognizing the potential parallels between human-powered Q&A platforms and AI-powered question-based chatbots, we investigate and compare how developers integrate this assistance into their real-world coding experiences by conducting a thematic analysis of 1700+ Reddit posts. Through a comparative study of SO and ChatGPT, we identified each platform's strengths, use cases, and barriers. Our findings suggest that ChatGPT offers fast, clear, comprehensive responses and fosters a more respectful environment than SO. However, concerns about ChatGPT's reliability stem from its overly confident tone and the absence of validation mechanisms like SO's voting system. Based on these findings, we synthesized the design implications for future GenAI code assistants and recommend a workflow leveraging each platform's unique features to improve developer experiences.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2309_13684
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle "Always Nice and Confident, Sometimes Wrong": Developer's Experiences Engaging Large Language Models (LLMs) Versus Human-Powered Q&A Platforms for Coding Support
Li, Jiachen
Mynatt, Elizabeth
Mishra, Varun
Bell, Jonathan
Human-Computer Interaction
Software Engineering
Software engineers have historically relied on human-powered Q&A platforms like Stack Overflow (SO) as coding aids. With the rise of generative AI, developers have started to adopt AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT, in their software development process. Recognizing the potential parallels between human-powered Q&A platforms and AI-powered question-based chatbots, we investigate and compare how developers integrate this assistance into their real-world coding experiences by conducting a thematic analysis of 1700+ Reddit posts. Through a comparative study of SO and ChatGPT, we identified each platform's strengths, use cases, and barriers. Our findings suggest that ChatGPT offers fast, clear, comprehensive responses and fosters a more respectful environment than SO. However, concerns about ChatGPT's reliability stem from its overly confident tone and the absence of validation mechanisms like SO's voting system. Based on these findings, we synthesized the design implications for future GenAI code assistants and recommend a workflow leveraging each platform's unique features to improve developer experiences.
title "Always Nice and Confident, Sometimes Wrong": Developer's Experiences Engaging Large Language Models (LLMs) Versus Human-Powered Q&A Platforms for Coding Support
topic Human-Computer Interaction
Software Engineering
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.13684