Testing AI Tools: Three Layers to Stop Mistaking Luck for a Fix
Junior-Resource-5433 · reddit · 2026-08-01
Traditional software testing relies on exact output matching, but this instinct fails with AI tools because outputs vary on every run.
Borrowing a framework from Descript, the author breaks AI testing into three escalating tiers:
- Don't break things: Check if the output is valid and not broken. Usually automatable.
- Do what I asked: Verify if it actually fulfills the user's intent. Requires some judgment.
- Do it well: Evaluate quality and taste. Often requires a human.
Because AI systems are non-deterministic, a single successful run is barely evidence. The author recommends running tests multiple times until sample sizes are large enough to prove a fix actually works.
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