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Re:What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph by fluoridation on Saturday July 18, 2026 @08:19AM (#48957469)
Just because it's approximated by a bell curve doesn't make it a bell curve. There are quite obvious separate phenomena shaping the curve at different times.
Re:What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph by khalic on Saturday July 18, 2026 @08:21AM (#48957478)
> just because it's approximated by a bell curve doesn't make it a bell curve

I'm going to assume this is bait...

Re:What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph by jdlshore on Saturday July 18, 2026 @08:54AM (#48957724)
Bell curves are probability distributions. This is a time series, so it can’t be a bell curve. It just has the same shape.
Re:What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph by khalic on Saturday July 18, 2026 @09:10AM (#48957843)
Are you discarding the utility of Gaussian functions in analysis simply because the independent variable is time? A Gaussian curve can be used as a descriptive model without claiming that the observations themselves are a probability distribution

The fit does not prove causation, but it does show that the decline was already well described by a trend that began years before generative AI. If the claim is that 2023 created a separate structural break, it's different claim then the title describes

Re:What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph by samatman on Saturday July 18, 2026 @08:37PM (#48963874)
You can't call it a bell curve unless it's from the Charles Murray region. It's just sparkling statistics.
Re:What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph by strken on Saturday July 18, 2026 @10:39AM (#48958562)
Do you mean "just because it's a bell curve, doesn't make it a normal distribution"?
Re:What AI did to stackoverflow in a graph by fluoridation on Saturday July 18, 2026 @01:57PM (#48960471)
No, I meant what I said.