Stack Overflow Users are protesting theQuestion and answer websiteand OpenAI , announcing that they would rather delete their posts and sacrifice reputation scores than have their answers used to train ChatGPT.
Announced earlier this week, OpenAI will be able to train AI models using answers and knowledge contributed by Stack Overflow users over the past 15 years. Both Stack Overflow and AI will benefit from the agreement, with Stack Overflow gaining access to OpenAI’s technology and OpenAI using this treasure trove of data to train its neural networks.
Source Note: The image is generated by AI, and the image is authorized by Midjourney
One Stack Overflow user named Ben Ui, a software developer who was unhappy with his data being used without explicit permission, chose to express his displeasure by overwriting a previous post in protest of the agreement. According to Ui, this act of protest resulted in him being banned for a week and his post being reverted to its original state.
Other users say they've had similar experiences, and that Stack Overflow has implemented blanket bans on users who try to delete or tamper with their posts. We've asked Stack Overflow to clarify the scope of the protest, but have yet to receive a response.
In any case, Stack Overflow’s terms of use appear to give users too much wiggle room, as the data appears to be usable for AI training.
Ui shared an email he said was sent by Stack Overflow's management team, explaining why he was banned, which is that once content is posted on Stack Overflow, it no longer belongs. The email reads: "Once you post questions or answers on this site, those posts become part of the collective effort of others who have contributed to that content. Due to the amount of disruption these events may cause, we have suspended your account for days."
To those who were unhappy with the Stack Overflow response, others pointed out that this is all covered in the Terms of Use.
"You agree that any and all content you provide... ispermanentirrevocably licenses Stack Overflow to use the Services on a full, royalty-free, non-exclusive basis," the Stack Overflow Subscriber Content section reads in its terms.
"You authorize Stack Overflow permanentpermanent and irrevocable right to access, use, process, copy, distribute, export, display and commercially exploit such Subscriber Content, even if you have contributed to such Subscriber Content and subsequently deleted it,” the terms continue.
For his part, Ben says he is requesting that his Stack Overflow data be deleted under the EU’s PR “right to be forgotten.” While Article 17 of the GDPR provides that when processing data is necessary “for the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and information,” even Stack Overflow’s view that it owns the content on the site does not apply to the right to delete data.
At the same time, there doesn’t appear to be any way for Stack Overflow users to opt out of having their data used to train AI models.