Hi @Nim ! Thank you for writing this out. I hear you on being the only tester in your company. I am in the same boat as far as being the only QA, so happy to support you how I can.
I took some time to read your questions and meditate on them. I think there are a few things to consider.
First, let’s step away from language that implies good or bad. You aren’t doing anything wrong, so taking a more neutral tone may help relieve some of the stress and the worry I hear in your writing. Let’s start from a more neutral place. (And, for sure, I have my worries about AI, but in your circumstance, I think you are trying to do the best you can. I think all of us are)
AI is a tool, like anything else. Some people will sing its praises to the rooftops (probably because they are peddling it to the market) while others will take a doomsday approach and proclaim that it’s going to be the ruin of us all. I try to find and listen to people who are more middle-of-the-road and realistic. AI can be helpful, sometimes. AI can be hurtful, sometimes. Identifying where and when it veers off into these very different directions requires we pay close attention.
For me (and I’m 10 years into the game), I use AI where it makes sense. If I am building knowledge about a project, I don’t give it to AI straight away to summarize. As I write test cases and work with the new feature, keeping AI out of the process is helpful because as I document what I should expect the feature to do, the feature gets built out in my head (if that makes sense) and makes it easier to recall when I’m testing it or working with it later. I also have the memory of Dory the fish, so remembering how things should work is crucial for me. I don’t use AI to build out bug reports because the majority of the time, I know how something should work, and I’m fine creating the report myself.
For clarity, would you be willing to post an example bug report? I’m curious to see what a collaboration with AI in this case looks like.
As a junior, and working with AI, I have some additional questions:
- What benefits do you feel like you are getting from using AI?
- Have you asked the developers if your reports are helpful? (Getting feedback from the developers is crucial here since they are the ones who are the recipients)
- What if, instead of using AI to write the bug report, you reached out to a developer to get their feedback?
For me, I keep AI out of the loop if I want to learn about the feature I’m working on and need to regurgitate that information later on. Is using AI helping your learning? Are you able to recall what you need to when asked about it at a later date?
The other thing that I struggle with is that because I am the only QA, I struggle reaching out to developers (aka, real humans) for feedback on what I’m doing. It’s scary pairing with them, and I work with some really great people. Using AI as a go-between for information might prevent you from:
- Learning what else the functionality should be doing. AI won’t be working on it. The developers will be.
- Fostering relationships with the people you work with every day. As you make yourself vulnerable to your team and reach out for help, you will make connections and will learn to be braver.
As a QA, we have to be the ones bringing up all kinds of conversations. Being willing to get feedback from our teammates is crucial.
I’m curious if this week, instead of using AI to help create the bug report, you reached out to your dev team. Let them know you are working on an experiment, and if they could provide feedback for your report, see what kinds of conversations you could have as a team, versus siloed out to ChatGPT, where no one can view those conversations later.
Ah, yeah. That is another point. Having conversations out in the open instead of DMs or AI convos creates unnecessary siloes. The more info that’s public and available to your teammates, the better.
You shouldn’t need to ask devs for feedback on every bug report. But once you get into the swing of things and get solid feedback from your teammates, your confidence will increase. With or without AI 
Hope this helps. Feel free to ask me any clarifying questions. I’m happy to help however I can.
I was a stay-at-home mom 10 years prior, so translating the issues I saw took some time. The best thing that helped me (and I think it might help you too) is trusting your teammates. Trusting that they will provide you with good feedback, ask questions if something you wrote is confusing, and be available to ask questions if the issue you are seeing doesn’t always make sense to you. I’ve worked with many different developers along the way, and the good ones were the ones that gave me feedback on my work. As long as they aren’t making you feel stupid (which I hope isn’t happening), listen when they bring you feedback. It will only make you better.