Jobs · QA tester

Will AI replace QA testers?

Much of the work, but not all of it. AI could take on about 79% of the working time in a typical QA tester job today. The other 21% still needs a person.

26 responsibilities · a typical QA tester job

21% of the work still needs a person.

Still needs a person: 21% of the timeAI could take on: 79%

Evidence range: 62 to 79%. It runs between what has been measured or rated for each responsibility and our figure, which also follows industry-wide research.

Median pay $104,300 a year in the U.S. (BLS, May 2025).

Still needs a person

  • Visit sites for beta testing

AI can do or help with

  • Find and document software problems AI helps
  • Log bugs in the tracking system AI can do it
  • Set up and run testing software AI helps
  • Write test procedures and standards docs AI can do it
  • Build testing programs for different scenarios AI helps
  • Give developers usability feedback AI helps

The biggest responsibilities of each kind. "AI helps" means AI takes on part of the work, or most of it with a person checking what it produces. See all 26, with the reason for each and the cost of handing them to AI.

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Questions people ask

Will AI replace QA testers?

Much of the work, but not all of it. AI could take on about 79% of the working time in a typical QA tester job today. The other 21% still needs a person. That is a split of the work, not a forecast of jobs lost.

Which parts of the job can AI do?

The biggest ones AI can do or help with: find and document software problems, log bugs in the tracking system, set up and run testing software, write test procedures and standards docs, build testing programs for different scenarios, give developers usability feedback.

Which parts still need a person?

The biggest ones: visit sites for beta testing.

How is this measured?

The U.S. Department of Labor lists 30 responsibilities for this job (O*NET 31.0), and the split covers the 26 people in it do today. Each is scored on 4 questions: can AI do it, does it get it right, must a person sign for it, and do people need to deal with a real person. The split is weighted by how much of the job each responsibility takes up. The evidence range is 62 to 79%. It runs between what has been measured or rated for each responsibility and our figure, which also follows industry-wide research. Scores version 0.6.4, updated October 6, 2026.

Responsibilities from O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor). Pay from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. Scores are calibrated to published research and updated every month. How it works.

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