Related discussion What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph (483 points, 3 months ago, 595 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956949
Related discussion What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph (483 points, 3 months ago, 595 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48956949
AI didn't do it to SO. SO's new ownership did it to SO. It's a hostile place with or without AI.
The same decline is visible on all Stack Exchange sites, regardless of moderation policy.
Unfortunately they changed ownership very close to when ChatGPT got released, so I can't point to timing, but there's just no way this is not because of AI.