This challenge is frequently posed by boosters of AI: if a bot were smart enough to be completely indistinguishable from a natural human, wouldn't it be moral and correct for it to have civil rights? … [Read more...] about Thinking Critically About AI
Working with Non-Testers
Persuasion for Testers
This question came up in the recently Rapid Software Testing Explored online class. Donatas asks: "Let's say you discover a problem in the application or the development process itself. However, it … [Read more...] about Persuasion for Testers
Six Things That Go Wrong With Discussions About Testing
Talking about software testing is not easy. It’s not natural! Testing is a “meta” activity. It’s not just a task, but a task that generates new tasks (by finding bugs that should be fixed or finding … [Read more...] about Six Things That Go Wrong With Discussions About Testing
Variable Testers
I once heard a vice president of software engineering tell his people that they needed to formalize their work. That day, I was an unpaid consultant in the building to give a free seminar, so I had … [Read more...] about Variable Testers
A Tester’s Commitments
This is the latest version of the commitments I make when I work with a programmer. Dear Programmer, My job is to help you look good. My job is to support you as you create quality; to ease … [Read more...] about A Tester’s Commitments
The CAST Testing Competition
I sponsored the testing competition at CAST, last week, awarding $1,426.00 of my own money to the winners. My game, my rules, of course, but I tried to be fair and give out the prizes to deserving … [Read more...] about The CAST Testing Competition
Should Developers Test the Product First?
When a programmer builds a product, should he release it to the testers right away? Or should he test it himself to make sure that it is free of obvious bugs? Many testers would advise the programmer … [Read more...] about Should Developers Test the Product First?