Computers will soon be able to fix themselves – are IT departments for the chop?

Abstract

First paragraph: Robots and AI are replacing workers at analarming rate, from simple manual tasks to making complex legal decisions and medical diagnoses. But the AI itself, and indeed most software, is still largely programmed by humans. Yet there are signs that this might be changing. Several programming tools are emerging which help to automate software testing, one of which we have been developing ourselves. The prospects look exciting; but it raises questions about how far this will encroach on the profession. Could we be looking at a world of Terminator-like software writers who consign their human counterparts to the dole queue? We computer programmers devote an unholy amount of time to testing software and fixing bugs. It’s costly, time consuming and fiddly – yet it’s vital if you want to bring high quality software to market.