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GenAI, which includes prompt engineering, is a subset of AI. Therefore, I wonder: What kind of questions are on-topic here but not already on-topic on AI.SE, DataScience.SE or Stats.SE?

I'm looking at existing questions here and they are either way too broad or already perfectly on topic on on AI.SE, DataScience.SE or Stats.SE (those 3 sites already greatly overlap between each other). And asking for "ready-to-go" prompts is off-topic here.


Examples:

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    see also AI Meta: Are questions about prompt-design on-topic here?
    – starball
    Commented Jul 23, 2023 at 20:18
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    There's the original scope, prompt engineering. There's maybe some others that ColleenV pointed out on meta.SE, though I'm not sure I've seen any of those flavor here yet. Outside that, I've voiced an apparently unpopular opinion that the overlap between "GenAI" and AI/DS/CV is too great. Commented Jul 24, 2023 at 21:50
  • @BenReiniger Thanks. I'd tend to think that prompt engineering is on-topic on DS.SE. I'll add a meta question there. And since asking for "ready-to-go" prompts is off-topic here, I don't know what would remain unique this site. Commented Jul 24, 2023 at 21:52
  • This looks to be a duplicate of the very first post on this site, which also is tagged featured: What is on-topic on GenAI SE?
    – Wicket
    Commented Jul 26, 2023 at 0:45
  • @BenReiniger The site scope is multifactorial: topic, audience, tone, quality standards, ... besides comparing topics, let's say by the similar tags that these sites might have, it's essential to look at other factors; some might be relevant on one community while on other doesn't, one more be interested in science part while other on the everyday use (technology), some might be focused on a particular usage setting, i.e, professional i.e. Quantitive Finance, while other might be open to any usage setting.
    – Wicket
    Commented Jul 26, 2023 at 0:49
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    @Wicket topic+audience give us the second scope proposal of "Using genAI", which I'm fine with. There's some overlap with DS, but not much with AI or CV. But expanding further just to match the changeable name "GenAI" would gain nothing but overlap with AI (and DS?). Then you have to answer the question of whether that's worth it. // I don't think tone or quality standards should be what distinguishes sites. Commented Jul 26, 2023 at 13:01
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    Well, this site was created by SE corporate to try to grab a piece of the generative AI money before it was too late (or before sentient AIs do away with humanity, take your pick). So whether it actually fills a gap in the community is at best a tertiary consideration.
    – Obie 2.0
    Commented Jul 26, 2023 at 23:51
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    There is clear precedent; Ask Ubuntu thematically is a subset of Unix & Linux but has a much more lenient attitude towards unsophisticated "halp, computer says no" questions.
    – tripleee
    Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 7:00
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    @tripleee And Unix & Linux is by and large a subset of SU. We really need to allow cross-over questions. Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 7:14
  • @BenReiniger done: Are questions about manual prompt engineering on-topic or off-topic on this site? Sorry for being slow on it. Commented Aug 11, 2023 at 18:33

1 Answer 1

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The over-all impression I get, based on the types of questions I see on both sites at this time, is that GenAI SE is more focused on the needs of people wanting to use AI tools to generate content, or to solve some real-world problem in their lives using existing AI technology. In contrast, AI SE seems primarily concerned with questions programmers and developers are encountering when trying to build AI systems.

Naturally there is a considerable amount of inevitable overlap, but it seems that there is a purpose to having two sites, in that more technically oriented users won't need to sift through heaps of non-technical "how do I do this or that" type of questions. On the other hand, those with more end-user related questions won't need to pick through a bunch of questions that are too specialized to be relevant to them.

As for Data Science SE, it is clear that the questions are nearly all technical in nature, but lean toward the subject of the training data itself. Or for that matter, data that is being collected and processed for other purposes besides machine learning as well, including data visualization. Yes, to add further complexity, that links to questions with the dataviz tag on Cross Validated (stats.SE). (What's the difference between data science and data visualization in statistics? I will let the scientists in those fields debate that matter as they decide where to post.)

So, while a question could conceivably be a fit for multiple SE sites, there is probably a "best fit" in most cases. I, for one, am really happy there is GenAI now, because I can stop dropping non-technical questions into AI SE only to have them downvoted or ignored by the more technically focused crowd over there. But if I do have a legitimately technical AI question, I will post it in AI SE. That said, if the technical AI question is primarily about generative AI, there's no reason it wouldn't belong on GenAI SE. "Generative" is in the name, after all.

This answer is based on my observations and judgement so far. Anyone feel free to disagree with my take on the matter.

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