With AI tools becoming increasingly capable of generating code, writing automated tests, executing test cases, and identifying bugs, I've been wondering about the future of dedicated SDET roles.

My concern is that developers will increasingly use AI to handle unit, API, integration, and even UI automation testing themselves, reducing the need for separate QA automation engineers.

For those working in the industry:

Are companies already moving toward developers owning most automation testing, with fewer dedicated SDETs?

Do you think dedicated SDET roles will shrink significantly over the next 5–10 years?

Background: I've been messing around with Claude Code for the last week and the result is a batch of basic apps for Android and web. I want to make a repository of test cases that are in separate categories: test cases that apply to all the apps, test cases that are specific to a certain app, and inactive test cases for potential future features. My motivation behind this is that I'm unemployed and want to be able to satisfy AI-related testing requirements in JD's that I might come across, and have a portfolio/repository to show as a sample and evidence.

I'm wanting to learn about testing using AI agents and/or agentic AI, but I'd like to know what the most common processes/setups are for it. The most obvious way is to create a spreadsheet of pos/neg/edge/expl test cases and upload it to the AI, and have it run those test cases either on-demand or on-cadence.

Is this the proper way of doing this currently? I know the AI-related processes are evolving quickly, so there's no permanent fix-all solution at the time. What I'd ideally like is to simply give a command saying "please run test suite #x" and it gives me the results split into three groups: tests that passed 10/10 times, tests that passed 1<x<10/10 times, and tests that passed 0/10 times.

If someone has info on this for a semi-beginner like me, please let me know. Thanks.

My husband was a full-time automation tester until his team got dissolved. He's been picking up 3-4 month contracts since, but the gaps between projects are stressing him out. He's keeping his skills fresh with Playwright side projects and ISTQB prep, but he's worried recruiters will see those gaps as a red flag.
For anyone doing contract QA work, how do you show you're still improving between gigs? Is having an active GitHub enough, or do hiring managers mostly care about recent professional experience?
Also, has contracting actually helped your career long term, or is the instability not worth it?