Testing AI Systems: Not as Different as You'd Think

AI-based tools have transformed from a vague, futuristic vision into actual products that are used on a day-to-day basis to make real-life decisions. Still, for most people, the inner workings of deep-learning systems remain a mystery. If you don't know what exactly is going on while the input data is fed through layer after layer of a neural network, how are you supposed to test the validity of the output? Are the days of simple tests with a clear and understandable result over? First of all, let's make a clear distinction between testing applications that consume AI-based outputs and testing the actual machine learning systems.