WeAreDevelopers Logo WeAreDevelopers
Sign in
For You LIVE
World Congress 2026 Europe - Virtual Stage • Jul 3, 2026 • Session details

The Algorithm That Nearly Killed Me: When Testing Isn't Enough

Andrew Paul

Senior engineer Andrew Paul's insulin pump nearly killed him despite perfectly passing tests. Discover how to use property-based testing to catch chaotic edge cases before they become catastrophic.

Pause
Mute Enter Fullscreen
#1 about 6 min

Personal background and biological management metrics

Maintaining tight biological control through continuous monitoring dictates how specialized medical metrics are evaluated.

#2 about 6 min

System setup and early automation warnings

A highly regulated closed-loop insulin pump introduces immediate vendor red flags before temporarily stabilizing during initial software deployment.

#3 about 7 min

Algorithm failure against diabetic medical boundaries

A life-threatening incident reveals the integration flaws between application instructions and mechanical delivery that almost caused ketoacidosis.

#4 about 6 min

Testing the edges between intersecting edge cases

Standard rules passing isolated tests can trigger dangerous software behavior when multiple edge cases intersect unexpectedly.

#5 about 4 min

Machine learning adaptation and the illusion of safety

Artificial intelligence adapts to independent patterns and introduces extreme risk when unit tests only confirm base implementation.

#6 about 4 min

Evaluating software impact instead of isolated implementation

The Post Office Horizon scandal illustrates why robust test coverage means nothing if software systematically destroys human lives.

#7 about 2 min

Distributing quality accountability across cross-functional modern teams

Removing dedicated quality assurance testers requires equipping broad engineering teams with rigorous analytical skills to evaluate complex user risk.

#8 about 7 min

Applying advanced testing strategies for complex business rules

Practical applications of interaction matrices, property-based tests, and chaos engineering ensure strict adherence to core system invariants.

#9 about 6 min

Deploying observability and dynamic controls against unexpected logic

Structured validation of algorithmic decision boundaries, granular telemetry observability, and dynamic feature flags integrate directly with application threat modeling.

#10 about 3 min

Fostering empathy and accountability in engineering decisions

Understanding user environments allows engineering teams to accurately assess whether autonomous systems truly earn high-stakes human trust.

#11 about 3 min

Closing argument for prioritizing definitive user safety

Intentional transparency embedded into automated processes enforces strict limits and judges software success entirely by user preservation.

Matching moments

3:08 min

Preventing catastrophic failures in high-stakes software

Lars Hupel · World Congress 2023

6:46 min

Real-world tech failures from missing ethical guardrails

Torsten Stiller Torsten Stiller · World Congress 2025

2:40 min

Balancing technical fail-safes with proactive moral compasses

Torsten Stiller Torsten Stiller · World Congress 2025

5:14 min

Preventing severe failures through rigorous QA and organizational safeguards

Christian Seifert · World Congress 2022

2:07 min

Mitigating cascading failures in AI generated software environments

Boris Hecker Boris Hecker +3 · World Congress 2026 Europe

3:33 min

Navigating developer bottlenecks and human accountability

Werner Vogels Werner Vogels +1 · World Congress 2026 Europe

More from World Congress 2026 Europe - Virtual Stage

One Does Not Simply Make Architecture Decisions Alone thumbnail
36:15
about 2 months ago

One Does Not Simply Make Architecture Decisions Alone

Vladas Diržys

From Black Box to Glass Box : Bedrock AgentCore Observability thumbnail
21:15
about 2 months ago

From Black Box to Glass Box : Bedrock AgentCore Observability

Yasemin Aktürk

Leading in Rhythm: How Women Make Better Decisions with Biological Intelligence thumbnail
30:41
2 months ago

Leading in Rhythm: How Women Make Better Decisions with Biological Intelligence

Julia Grosse

Better Together: Leveraging Your Observability Tools as a SIEM thumbnail
39:06
2 months ago

Better Together: Leveraging Your Observability Tools as a SIEM

Mathias Palmersheim

ChatGPT Apps: From Chat to Checkout thumbnail
30:29
2 months ago

ChatGPT Apps: From Chat to Checkout

Aaron Koivunen

Interior Decorating (TypeScript Decorators) thumbnail
29:22
2 months ago

Interior Decorating (TypeScript Decorators)

Michael Dowden

Upcoming sessions on this topic

Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 11:40–12:10

Stage 2

Reinventing Testing Practices in the AI Era

Eric Deandrea

Java Champion & Senior Principal Software Engineer, IBM

Eric Deandrea
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 13:30–14:00

Stage 7

Agents Can't Iterate Against Tests That Lie

Rocky Warren

Senior Staff Software Engineer at Clipboard

Rocky Warren
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 16:50–17:20

Stage 6

Who Tests the AI? Building Trustworthy AI Systems at Enterprise Scale

Him Raj Singh

PayPal, Manager, Software Engineer

Him Raj Singh
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 15:30–16:00

Stage 4

Evals Are Infra: Building AI Systems Developers Can Actually Trust

Phoebe Wang

Member of Technical Staff at OpenAI

Phoebe Wang
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 25, 2026 · 15:45–15:55

Outdoor Stage

Closing the Visibility Gap: Lessons from Safety Critical Agentic Systems

Vivek Pandit

Principal Engineer at Cadence

Vivek Pandit
Open session

World Congress 2026 North America

September 24, 2026 · 09:30–10:15

Mainstage

Manufacturing trust: speed and safety in the age of agents

Mark Cavage

Mark Cavage President and COO of Docker

Mark Cavage

Related videos

Introduction to Responsible AI: Balancing Value and Risk thumbnail
31:21
Europe 2026 Virtual • 2 months ago

Introduction to Responsible AI: Balancing Value and Risk

Seppe Housen

Staying Safe in the AI Future thumbnail
27:26
World Congress 2022 • about 4 years ago

Staying Safe in the AI Future

Cassie Kozyrkov

Back to the Roots: Testing in the Age of AI thumbnail
29:50
World Congress 2026 Europe • about 2 months ago

Back to the Roots: Testing in the Age of AI

Jakub Janczyk

Your Tests Are Lying to You: Let AI Expose What You Missed thumbnail
26:12
World Congress 2026 Europe • about 2 months ago

Your Tests Are Lying to You: Let AI Expose What You Missed

Maish Saidel-Keesing

11 Principles for Evaluating AI Dev Tools thumbnail
30:46
World Congress 2026 Europe • about 2 months ago

11 Principles for Evaluating AI Dev Tools

Nnenna Ndukwe

AI in High-Stakes Industries: Lessons Learned thumbnail
31:27
World Congress 2026 Europe • about 2 months ago

AI in High-Stakes Industries: Lessons Learned

Alexandre Guenoun, Jaipal Singh, Nicolò Robba, Tomislav Tipurić

Related articles

From learning to earning

Jobs that call for the skills explored in this talk.