He’s the co-creator of Rapid Software Testing and the book Taking Testing Seriously, and a really good friend of mine – on this episode of the QR Podcast Michael Bolton and I talk about the current state of software testing, where the profession is heading, and maybe (deep breath), just maybe we talk about something the two of us haven’t spoken about in public together –  AI in testing.

It’s a long one and we cover a LOT of ground, so strap in and enjoy!

Links in discussion…

• https://rapid-software-testing.com/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Short
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Short_(film)
• https://www.wheresyoured.at
• https://qualityremarks.com/the-coming-ai-jobocalypse/
• https://qualityremarks.com/qr-podcast-jerry-weinberg/
• https://claude.com/product/claude-code
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham
• https://www.jbrains.ca
• “On Magic Boxes” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okSZH4Co3Rw
• George Carlin “The Planet is Fine” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmo8sh77G6Y
• https://chatgpt.com
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Maynard_Keynes
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Burry
• https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/07/generative-ai-engineering-disaster/687901
• https://conference.eurostarsoftwaretesting.com/conference/2024/programme/
• https://www.mca.org.uk/mca-awards/finalists-2026
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nate-custer-a2a02210
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/joepschuurkes
• https://smallsheds.garden/blog/2026/on-the-acceptance-of-genai
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/monettdiaz
• https://agileonthebeach.com/
• https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/
• https://spectrum.ieee.org/gpt-4-calm-down
• https://benlevinstein.substack.com/p/a-conceptual-guide-to-transformers-024
• https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/anthony-lane
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebender
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan