software testing
What It Means
Software testing is the process of deliberately running a program or system to see if it works as expected and to find problems before users encounter them. It involves checking that the software produces the right outputs, handles errors gracefully, and performs reliably under different conditions.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
For AI systems, inadequate testing can lead to biased decisions, regulatory violations, or catastrophic failures that damage customer trust and create legal liability. Unlike traditional software, AI systems can behave unpredictably with new data, making comprehensive testing essential for responsible AI deployment and maintaining business reputation.
Real-World Example
A bank's AI loan approval system undergoes testing where engineers feed it thousands of synthetic loan applications with known characteristics to verify it doesn't discriminate based on protected attributes like race or gender, handles edge cases like missing data properly, and produces consistent decisions within acceptable risk parameters.
Common Confusion
Many organizations think AI testing is the same as traditional software testing, but AI systems require additional testing for bias, fairness, data drift, and model performance degradation over time. Testing AI also involves validating training data quality and model interpretability, not just functional correctness.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, software testing is critical for medical devices, electronic health records, and clinical decision suppor...
Finance: In finance, software testing is critical for ensuring trading systems, risk management platforms, and regulatory reporti...
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Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"Activity in which a system or component is executed under specified conditions, the results are observed or recorded, and an evaluation is made of some aspect of the system or component."Source: IEEE_Soft_Vocab
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