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Automating the Necessary Chore: Leveraging Generative AI for Knowledge Management in Software Documentation

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: With the advancements of digital technologies, software development is undergoing significant changes. Against this backdrop, the implementation of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) goes beyond supporting the development process, particularly in software documentation. However, documenting software remains a necessary yet a chore. For instance, documentation rapidly outdates and loses synchronization as code evolves. Moreover, the implementation of GenAI faces challenges, including in knowledge management. This study adopts the Design Science Research (DSR) approach to develop an artifact to automate software documentation to facilitate the development process. The proposed solution supports generation and updating existing documentation while retaining human oversight. The results of the first research cycle indicate that the artifact can contribute to knowledge conversion and facilitate knowledge management in a development laboratory. Hence, the automatic generation of documentation from programming code fosters the creation of a knowledge space for learning and storing content about ongoing organizational development projects.

Source: Journal of the Association for Information Systems

Authors: Carvalho, Mateus Espíndola, Dalfovo, Djani, Aguiar, Luiz Manoel, Hoffmann, Micheline G

Institution: Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina

Language: English

Topic: Software Engineering Research

Subfield: Information Systems

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina

OpenAlex ID: W7164782486

FWCI:

Cites: 35

Cited by:

Related to: 10