The Competence Crisis: A Design Fiction on AI-Assisted Research in Software Engineering

TL;DR

This paper uses design fiction to explore potential future challenges in AI-assisted software engineering research, highlighting risks to skills, responsibility, and trust due to automation and publication pressures.

Contribution

It introduces a novel use of design fiction to critically examine future implications of AI tools in software engineering research practices.

Findings

Raises concerns about skill degradation and responsibility in AI-assisted research

Highlights potential impacts on verification and mentoring practices

Stimulates discussion on defining proficiency and support in future research environments

Abstract

Rising publication pressure and the routine use of generative AI tools are reshaping how software engineering research is produced, assessed, and taught. While these developments promise efficiency, they also raise concerns about skill degradation, responsibility, and trust in scholarly outputs. This vision paper employs Design Fiction as a methodological lens to examine how such concerns might materialise if current practices persist. Drawing on themes reported in a recent community survey, we construct a speculative artifact situated in a near future research setting. The fiction is used as an analytical device rather than a forecast, enabling reflection on how automated assistance might impede domain knowledge competence, verification, and mentoring practices. By presenting an intentionally unsettling scenario, the paper invites discussion on how the software engineering research community in the future will define proficiency, allocate responsibility, and support learning.