SOE 508: SPECIAL TOPICS IN SOFTWARE

ENGINEERING

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SOFTWARE

ENGINEERING
 AI in Software Engineering
• The fusion of AI with diverse industries has grown largely in
recent times.
• As AI continues its ubiquitous march, it intertwines with
Software Engineering in creating a paradigm shift towards
reshaping methodologies, refining processes, and redefining
possibilities.
• The symbiosis between AI and Software Engineering is highly
tilted to the advantageous scale as it has become an essential
part of Software Engineering particularly in moulding the
future of tech-driven solutions.
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 Interconnection Between AI and Software
Engineering
The Software Engineering community has used three broad
areas of AI techniques:
❑Computational Search and Optimization techniques (known
as Search-Based Software Engineering).
❑Fuzzy and Probabilistic methods for reasoning in the
presence of uncertainty.
❑Classification, Learning, and Prediction.

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 AI Intrusion into Software Engineering
• In the onset, AI occupied the academic sphere only, driving
researchers into studies to understand how machine learning
and natural language processing could simulate human
intelligence.
• As AI progressed, its role expanded to the extent that:
❑machine learning algorithms have made it possible for Software to
learn from data without explicit programming.
❑neural networks have been advanced to serve as the groundwork
for complex applications in data analysis and prediction
❑…

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 AI Intrusion into Software Engineering
• The integration of AI techniques in software engineering
presents numerous opportunities for innovation and efficiency
improvement.
❑Integration: Bringing together AI techniques with software
engineering practices.
❑Resulting Innovations: AI creates new research areas
and methodologies for software development

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 Concepts of AI in Software Engineering
1. Machine Learning
❑It allows computers to learn from data. Machine learning in Software
Engineering helps in data analysis and predictive modeling.
2. Natural Language Processing (NLP)
❑NLP enables software to understand and generate human language,
thereby facilitating more natural interactions. It is critical for
automated customer-service solutions.
3. Neural Networks
❑Neural networks are essential for complex problem-solving, such as
identification of bugs in codes. They serve as building blocks for
deep learning models.
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 Concepts of AI in Software Engineering
4. Reinforcement Learning
❑Reinforcement learning helps software to learn optimal actions
through trial and error. It is essentially utilized in automated
testing environments.
5. Expert Systems
❑Expert systems replicate human experts’ capacities for decision
making. They are particularly useful for software that require
high level decision making and problem solving capabilities.

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Utilizing AI Techniques in Software Engineering
Automatic Test Case Generation
❑AI assists in generating test cases, thereby improving software
quality, and reducing manual effort.
Fault Prediction
❑AI is capable of predicting faults before testing phase starts,
thereby enabling proactive debugging and enhancing software
reliability.
Automatic Model Creation
❑AI aids in creating models from requirements, thereby streamlining
software development process.
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 AI Influence on Software Engineering
1. Improved Efficiency
➢AI can easily handle tedious repetitive tasks, e.g., automated code
reviews for detecting errors or inefficiencies.
➢AI via machine learning algorithms can quickly analyze huge amount of
data to provide insights that would accelerate project timelines.
2. Enhanced Accuracy
➢AI is capable of analyzing lines of code much more quickly than humans,
thereby enabling more efficient bug detection and resolution.
➢AI is capable of driving development tools towards performing
exhaustive tests within a minute time, as well as learning from each test
for optimization purposes.
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 AI Influence on Software Engineering
3. Intelligent Decision-making
➢AI can place forecasts for the purpose of predicting project delays and
bottlenecks, thereby enabling proactive decision-making.
➢AI tools aid companies in optimizing resource allocation based on real-
time data.
4. Code Generation and Maintenance
➢AI via machine learning algorithms is capable of suggesting code
snippets, thereby helping developers to produce efficient and more
reliable code within a small time frame.
➢AI tools can automatically complete lines of code and generate
appropriate documentation, thereby sustaining more consistent and more
understandable codes for futuristic purposes.
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 AI Influence on Software Engineering
5. Reduced Operational Costs
➢AI frees up human resources by automating various aspects of development
process, thereby providing enough time that can be used for innovation and
more-complex problem solving.
➢AI tools aid companies in analytics for the purpose of identifying redundant
processes and optimizing resource allocation thereby saving costs for the
organization.
6. Enhanced User Experience
➢AI can analyze how users interact with an application, thereby allowing
developers to refine UI/UX elements to better align with user needs.
➢AI driven chatbots can handle user queries round the clock and also learn new
knowledge at each engagement with a user, thereby fortifying itself to face
and help customers constantly.
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 Implementing AI in Software Engineering
❑Best Practices
➢Start AI journey with a small-scale proof of concept.
➢Then, validate the effectiveness of the concept before
scaling up to more significant projects.
❑Tool Selection
➢Choose AI design tools that align with your project
requirements.
➢The chosen tools should accommodate the development
team size as well as the specified budget.
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Emerging AI-Driven Research Areas in Software
Engineering
❑Ambient Intelligence:
• Developing environments responsive to human behaviour, enhancing user
experience and comfort.
❑Software Agents:
• Small intelligent systems making decisions based on expert knowledge,
improving system efficiency.
❑Computational Intelligence:
• Adaptive methods for intelligent behaviour in complex environments, aiding
robust and efficient solutions.
❑Knowledge-Based Systems:
• Utilizing expert knowledge for task performance, enhancing decision-making
and problem-solving capabilities
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 Ethical Considerations of AI on Software
Engineering
❑Data Usage
➢Ethical use of data is a pressing concern.
➢Business and developers must ensure strict compliance with regulations when
employing AI to handle data.
❑Accountability
➢The question of accountability is paramount as AI continues to make more
decisions.
➢A major challenge is the question of who takes responsibility when AI-driven
software makes an error.
❑Algorithmic Bias
➢Ai may be led to perpetrating existing biases found in training data.
➢Developers are expected to apply caution when selecting and curating
datasets.
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Drawbacks of AI on Software Engineering
➢Limited ability.
➢Slow real-time response.
➢Inability to handle emergency situations.
➢Difficult coding.
➢High cost.
➢Unemployment creation.

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 Future of AI-Driven Software Engineering
Evolving Role
❑The role of AI in software engineering is a dynamic continuous process.
❑The world anticipates more advanced applications, especially from
technologies like quantum computing, microservices architecture, etc.
❑The world expects new opportunities that would implement
advancements in line with evolving needs.
Illuming Challenges
❑AI advancement drags along cybersecurity and other associated ethical
implications.
❑Regular updates of applications and systems is essential to curb illuming
challenges.
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Review Questions

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