Hi! I’m Judy. I’m peeking out from behind the curtain here at the Women in Testing newsletter to address a topic that is on everyone’s minds and social feeds: AI.
As a community member, I wanted to bring this topic up because I care about you, the reader. Most days, it’s hard to know what is true life or what is generated by some prompts. As our understanding of reality continues to get blurry, I wanted to let you know how we, as a community, feel about and are using AI.
For context, I’m the one who calls for submissions, helps edit, and publishes each article for the newsletter. I get to hang around with these amazing people and read their contributions. It’s a gift. And, I am only one person. I am doing this for free. Many of the members don’t have time to write on a regular basis. That’s why this newsletter exists: to help people share their knowledge, skills, and even to help them be a little bit brave if writing isn’t something they do often. It’s a joy. Such a cool opportunity.
And, well, there is AI. And, I want you to know how we are using AI in our submissions.
We’re okay with the robots
Many of us use AI in our day-to-day workflows. Some of us feel very bad about the recent changes in tech. Others are excited. Because we are many, the varied views of AI will show up in the newsletter. I use the term “okay” as a word to capture our many thoughts and feelings about it.
We want to act wisely
I’d say that accounts for almost everyone. In the testing circles I’m part of, we care about the work we do, as well as the tools we are using. No one is acting badly on purpose (to my knowledge). Many of us want to do the right thing and to do it well. This makes using AI complicated at times.
Where we stand
I had a conversation with the community, and we agreed on a few things.
We take a neutral stance on AI. We are not anti or pro. Sometimes AI is useful and helpful. Therefore, if a writer of this newsletter wants to use AI, they are free to do so.
We will identify AI use. We want to be transparent about our use of AI. So, as a member of the community, we’ve agreed that if we use AI in our writing, we will make it clear in some form or fashion. It’s to help you, as the reader, decide how you want to think about an article. Again, this may get complicated, but transparency is more important than avoiding complicated conversations.
It’s also okay not to use AI. Personally, I love the struggle of coming up with the start of a sentence or how to tie separate ideas together. Call me weird. I like being weird. That’s what makes this newsletter so cool. Some of us use AI. Others don’t. Everyone brings ideas that expand our vision of what testing can be, and we can continue to infuse care into the craft.
Where I stand
Here’s where things get complicated again. I won’t be checking to see who is using AI or not. I trust the members of this community. If they didn’t say they used AI, I’m going to trust that they didn’t. I will remind them to tag it if so, but otherwise, I’m going to trust the adults in the room to be adults. I’m one person. I do this for fun. And, I hope you, dear reader, are having fun too. These are an amazing group of people, and we have so much fun together. It’s my hope that this newsletter will continue doing the good work that it does. I realize that my stance may make things complicated for you. If so, please let me know, either in the comments or on LinkedIn. I want to do my best, and I have limits. Learning what my limits are in an AI world is what I’m exploring. Would love to hear your take on this.
Here’s to community
We’re the humans trying to figure out who we are, what our roles are, and how to walk through this crazy experience called life. I’d love to start the conversation about how you're being transparent about AI use in your organization and your daily life. The more we can talk about where we are and what is working, the easier it will be to find our way.
Cheers!
(Scurries back behind the curtain)
Judy Mosley is a QA Engineer, curator of the Women in Testing newsletter, Ministry of Testing Ambassador, and author of the Failure is Feedback newsletter. As a member of the testing community, she loves breaking software, ensuring confidence across teams, and amplifying the voices of testers around the world. You can find more about her work on LinkedIn, and Failure is Feedback
