AI and Software Testing

We hear more and more about AI. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. The everyday activities are supported by AI machines, for example, face recognition, speech recognition, language transformation, etc.

Artificial Intelligence photo
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Artificial Intelligence

But what is AI really? We will explain it ourselves below.

What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer or a robot controlled by a computer to do tasks that are usually done by humans. That’s happening because they require human intelligence and discernment. Although there are no AIs that can perform the wide variety of tasks an ordinary human can do, some AIs can match humans in specific tasks. What role makes AI in Software testing?

What is AI in Software Testing?

AI in software testing makes testing smarter and more efficient. AI and machine learning (ML) apply reasoning and problem-solving to automate and improve testing. Artificial Intelligence in software testing helps reduce time-consuming manual testing, so teams can focus on more complex tasks, like creating innovative new features.

How AI helps to improve Software testing?

Firstly, it automates writing test cases. It can improve the quality of our test cases for automated testing. Instead of running a large test suite just to detect a minor bug, AI will offer precise test cases that are fast to run and easy to control.

Secondly, AI is automating API test generation. API evaluation allows measuring the quality of interactions between different programs that communicate with databases, servers, and use various protocols, etc. Testing assures that the connection is stable, requests are processed correctly, and an end-user will be able to get a correct output after a particular interaction. Artificial Intelligence analyzes the functionality of connected applications, detects potentially risky areas, and helps to create test cases.

Moreover, Artificial Intelligence is self-healing the execution of Selenium tests. We told about the Selenium in this post. Once we wrote the selenium test scripts, we could see that selenium tests are really good, however, aren’t perfect – they are too complex, take a long time to execute, and even a small technical issue can lead to the loss of all test case progress. It’s not a flexible solution: if we haven’t made a requirement for automated testing correctly, the test case wouldn’t be complete. Artificial Intelligence identifies such broken tests and repairs them. If the execution was stopped due to a technical issue, AI will identify it and find a solution. AI heals Selenium tests automatically and provides smart insights on improving the cases.

What is Machine Learning?

Once we’ve explained what role in Software Testing makes AI, we’ve mentioned ML. What is Machine Learning?

Machine learning (ML) is a type of AI that allows software applications to become more accurate at predicting outcomes without being explicitly programmed to do so. Machine learning is the method to train a computer to learn from its inputs but without explicit programming for every circumstance. ML helps a computer to achieve artificial intelligence.

AI in software testing helps reduce time-consuming manual testing. Does it mean that manual testing will die soon?

Manual Testing will not die because of AI. Artificial Intelligence helps to reduce manual testing but it can’t replace it. Robots can test the software but in experience-based techniques, which are based on human intelligence, robots are unable to perform testing. But what is human intelligence?

Human intelligence can be characterized by a specific ability to develop complex behaviors in changing circumstances. The brain is the central organ that controls most of the activities of the body in a very dynamic way. The brain’s dynamism comes from its ability to constantly produce self-organization based on dialogues between neurons and the human body. Thanks to that, people can test the software using their intuition and experience. They can also validate the software from the point of the user’s view, not only verify it. Robots can verify the software to rate the quality of software, however, they can’t rate if for example, the interface of the software is user-friendly, or if the usability of the system is easy.

Summary

AI is the future, and we shouldn’t think that it isn’t. It’s everywhere, and surely it will help us in a wide range of industries, such as IT, Healthcare, and much more. We shouldn’t afraid of that, but we ought to learn how to collaborate with AI to improve our daily activities. For example, to make our work, life, and also software testing process easier for ourselves.

I hope you’ve enjoyed an article and found some inspirational information.
The next post will arrive soon 🙂

The information in this post is based on the following resources:
What is AI? What is AI in Software Testing? How AI helps to improve Software Testing? What is Machine Learning? Human Intelligence

Graphics with hyperlinks used in this post have a different source, the full URL included in hyperlinks.

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