CT-AI Sample Questions Answers

 Type of Testing for Stock-Price Prediction Models:Concept drift refers to the change in the statistical properties of the target variable over time. Severe weather storms causing massive losses in coffee production and affecting stock prices would require testing for concept drift to ensure that the model adapts to new patterns in data over time.

 Reference:ISTQB_CT-AI_Syllabus_v1.0, Section 7.6 Testing for Concept Drift, which explains the need to test for concept drift in models that might be affected by changing external factors​​.

According to the syllabus, pre-trained models often inherit biases and limitations from the data and processes used in their original training, which may not align with the new use case. Specifically, the syllabus states:

"When using a pre-trained model, the training data and process cannot be fully controlled or known by the user of the model. As a result, the model can inherit biases or inaccuracies that were part of its original development and training process."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 1.8.3)

The syllabus states:

"Concept drift occurs when the operational environment changes without the trained model changing correspondingly. The outputs of the model become less accurate and less useful. Therefore, the operational model should be regularly evaluated against its acceptance criteria."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 7.6, Page 54 of 99)

AI test environments have several unique characteristics that differentiate them from traditional test environments. Let’s evaluate each option:

A. Challenges resulting from low accuracy of the models.

Low accuracy is a common challenge in AI systems, especially during initial development and training phases. Ensuring the model performs accurately in varied and unpredictable scenarios is a critical aspect of AI testing.

B. The challenge of mimicking undefined scenarios generated due to self-learning.

AI systems, particularly those that involve machine learning, can generate undefined or unexpected scenarios due to their self-learning capabilities. Mimicking and testing these scenarios is a unique challenge in AI environments.

C. The challenge of providing explainability to the decisions made by the system.

Explainability, or the ability to understand and articulate how an AI system arrives at its decisions, is a significant and unique challenge in AI testing. This is crucial for trust and transparency in AI systems.

D. Challenges in the creation of scenarios of human handover for autonomous systems.

While important, the creation of scenarios for human handover in autonomous systems is not a characteristic unique to AI test environments. It is more related to the operational and deployment challenges of autonomous systems rather than the intrinsic technology-related characteristics of AI.

Given the above points, optionDis the correct answer because it describes a challenge related to operational deployment rather than a technology-related characteristic unique to AI test environments.

A. Add 10% of the rows randomly and create another model and compare the R-Square scores of both the models.

Adding more data to the training set can affect the R-Square score, but it does not directly verify the correctness of the implementation.

B. Train various models by changing the order of input features and verify that the R-Square score of these models vary significantly.

Changing the order of input features should not significantly affect the R-Square score if the implementation is correct, but this approach is more about testing model robustness rather than correctness of the implementation.

C. Compare the R-Square score of the model obtained using two different implementations that utilize two different programming languages while using the same algorithm and the same training and testing data.

This approach directly compares the performance of two implementations of the same algorithm. If both implementations produce similar R-Square scores on the same training and testing data, it suggests that the new implementation "X" is correct.

D. Drop 10% of the rows randomly and create another model and compare the R-Square scores of both the models.

Dropping data can lead to variations in the R-Square score but does not directly verify the correctness of the implementation.

Therefore, optionCis the most appropriate strategy because it directly compares the performance of the new implementation "X" with another implementation using the same algorithm and datasets, which helps in verifying the correctness of the implementation​​.

The process of developing a machine learning model typically involves the use of three types of datasets:

Training Data:This is used to train the model, i.e., to learn the patterns and relationships in the data.

Validation Data:This is used to tune the model’s hyperparameters and to prevent overfitting during the training process.

Test Data:This is used to evaluate the final model’s performance and to estimate how it will perform on unseen data.

Let's analyze each option:

A. Training data - validation data - test data

This option correctly includes all three types of datasets used in the process of creating and validating a model. The training data is used for learning, validation data for tuning, and test data for final evaluation.

B. Training data - validation data

This option misses the test data, which is crucial for evaluating the model’s performance on unseen data after the training and validation phases.

C. Training data - test data

This option misses the validation data, which is important for tuning the model and preventing overfitting during training.

D. Validation data - test data

This option misses the training data, which is essential for the initial learning phase of the model.

Therefore, the correct answer isAbecause it includes all necessary datasets used during the process of learning and creating the model: training, validation, and test data​​.

The syllabus explains that input changes that arein the same domainas what was used for training are expected to be handled with adaptability:

"Adaptability refers to the ability of a system to adjust its behavior in response to changes in its environment or inputs. This includes changes to the inputs which are still within the expected operational range of the system, such as resolution changes in images or sensor data."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 7.6 and 8.2)

Prevalence Rate and Model Performance:

The cancer detection system being developed by "Splendid Healthcare" needs to account for the fact that the type of cancer has a 2% prevalence rate in the population. This indicates that the dataset is highly imbalanced with far fewer positive (cancer) cases compared to negative (normal) cases.

Importance of Recall:

Recall, also known as sensitivity or true positive rate, measures the proportion of actual positive cases that are correctly identified by the model. In medical diagnosis, especially cancer detection, recall is critical because missing a positive case (false negative) could have severe consequences for the patient. Therefore, maximizing recall ensures that most, if not all, cancer cases are detected.

Importance of Precision:

Precision measures the proportion of predicted positive cases that are actually positive. High precision reduces the number of false positives, meaning fewer people will be incorrectly diagnosed with cancer. This is also important to avoid unnecessary anxiety and further invasive testing for those who do not have the disease.

Balancing Recall and Precision:

In scenarios where both false negatives and false positives have significant consequences, it is crucial to balance recall and precision. This balance ensures that the model is not only good at detecting positive cases but also accurate in its predictions, reducing both types of errors.

Accuracy and Specificity:

While accuracy (the proportion of total correct predictions) is important, it can be misleading in imbalanced datasets. In this case, high accuracy could simply result from the model predicting the majority class (normal) correctly. Specificity (true negative rate) is also important, but for a cancer detection system, recall and precision take precedence to ensure positive cases are correctly and accurately identified.

Conclusion:

Therefore, for a cancer detection system with a low prevalence rate, maximizing both recall and precision is crucial to ensure effective and accurate detection of cancer cases.

The syllabus states:

"Transparency: This is considered to be the ease with which the algorithm and training data used to generate the model can be determined."

Access to the training data is an example of transparency.

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 2.7, page 24 of 99)

Flexibility in AI systems is crucial for various reasons, particularly because it allows for easier modification and adaptation of the system as a whole.

AI systems are inherently flexible (A): This statement is not correct. While some AI systems may be designed to be flexible, they are not inherently flexible by nature. Flexibility depends on the system's design and implementation.

AI systems require changing operational environments; therefore, flexibility is required (B): While it's true that AI systems may need to operate in changing environments, this statement does not directly address the importance of flexibility for the modification of the system.

Flexible AI systems allow for easier modification of the system as a whole (C): This statement correctly describes the importance of flexibility. Being able to modify AI systems easily is critical for their maintenance, adaptation to new requirements, and improvement.

Self-learning systems are expected to deal with new situations without explicitly having to program for it (D): This statement relates to the adaptability of self-learning systems rather than their overall flexibility for modification.

Hence, the correct answer isC. Flexible AI systems allow for easier modification of the system as a whole.

The syllabus explains that supervised learning requires correctly labeled data so the algorithm can learn the relationship between input features and output labels:

"In supervised learning, the algorithm creates the ML model from labeled data during the training phase. The labeled data is used to infer the relationship between the input data and output labels."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 3.1.1)

Back-to-back testing is a method where the same set of tests are run on multiple implementations of the system to compare their outputs. This type of testing is typically used to ensure consistency and correctness by comparing the outputs of different implementations under identical conditions. Let's analyze the options given:

A. Comparison of the results of a current neural network model ML model implemented in platform A (for example Pytorch) with a similar neural network model ML model implemented in platform B (for example Tensorflow), for the same data.

This option describes a scenario where two different implementations of the same type of model are being compared using the same dataset. This is a typical back-to-back testing situation.

B. Comparison of the results of a home-grown neural network model ML model with results in a neural network model implemented in a standard implementation (for example Pytorch) for the same data.

This option involves comparing a custom implementation with a standard implementation, which is also a typical back-to-back testing scenario to validate the custom model against a known benchmark.

C. Comparison of the results of a neural network ML model with a current decision tree ML model for the same data.

This option involves comparing two different types of models (a neural network and a decision tree). This is not a typical scenario for back-to-back testing because the models are inherently different and would not be expected to produce identical results even on the same data.

D. Comparison of the results of the current neural network ML model on the current data set with a slightly modified data set.

This option involves comparing the outputs of the same model on slightly different datasets. This could be seen as a form of robustness testing or sensitivity analysis, but not typical back-to-back testing as it doesn’t involve comparing multiple implementations.

Based on this analysis, optionCis the one that describes a situation of back-to-back testing the least because it compares two fundamentally different models, which is not the intent of back-to-back testing.

 Factors Affecting ML Functional Performance:The data pipeline, quality of the labeling, and biased data are all factors that significantly affect the performance of machine learning models. The number of classes, while relevant for the model structure, is not a direct factor affecting the performance metrics such as accuracy or bias.

 Reference:ISTQB_CT-AI_Syllabus_v1.0, Sections on Data Quality and its Effect on the ML Model and ML Functional Performance Metrics​​​​.

The question asks which combination of tests would be most appropriate to include in the strategy for optimal detection in a workflow system using multiple ML models.

Pairwise testing of combinations (I): This method is useful for testing interactions between different components in the workflow to ensure they work well together, identifying potential issues in the integration.

Testing each individual model for accuracy (II): Ensuring that each model in the workflow performs accurately on its own is crucial before integrating them into a combined workflow.

A/B testing of different sequences of models (III): This involves comparing different sequences to determine which configuration yields the best results. While useful, it might not be as fundamental as pairwise and individual accuracy testing in the initial stages.

Decision trees are a foundational algorithm used in supervised machine learning. The syllabus describes:

"A decision tree is a tree-like ML model whose nodes represent decisions and whose branches represent possible outcomes."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 3.4)

The syllabus discusses using AI-based tools to reduce GUI test brittleness:

"AI can be used to reduce the brittleness of this approach, by employing AI-based tools to identify the correct objects using various criteria (e.g., XPath, label, id, class, X/Y coordinates), and to choose the historically most stable identification criteria."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 11.6.1)

The ML workflow typically involves iterative steps, beginning with data preparation once the model and framework are selected. The syllabus explains:

"The steps shown in Figure 1 (the ML workflow) do not include the integration of the ML model with the non-ML parts of the overall system. Typically, ML models cannot be deployed in isolation and need to be integrated with the non-ML parts... The next step would be data preparation as part of the ML workflow to provide input data to support training by an ML algorithm or prediction by an ML model."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Sections 3.2 & 4.1)

The syllabus states that while pairwise testing is effective at finding defects by reducing the number of test cases needed, the resulting test suite can still be extensive and require automation:

"Even the use of pairwise testing can result in extensive test suites… automation and virtual test environments often become necessary to allow the required tests to be run."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 9.2, Page 67 of 99)

The syllabus defines reward hacking as:

"Reward hacking can result from an AI-based system achieving a specified goal by using a 'clever' or 'easy' solution that perverts the spirit of the designer’s intent."

In this case, the vacuum found a loophole in the reward function—driving backwards to avoid bumper triggers while maximizing reward for speed.

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 2.6, page 24 of 99)

 A. Using a pixel comparison of the GUI before and after the change to check the differences.

Pixel comparison is a traditional method and does not involve AI. It compares images at the pixel level, which can be effective but is not an intelligent approach. It is not considered an AI usage and is the least likely usage of AI for detecting GUI changes.

 B. Using computer vision to compare the GUI before and after the test object changes.

Computer vision involves using AI techniques to interpret and process images. It is a likely usage of AI for detecting changes in the GUI.

 C. Using vision-based detection of the GUI layout changes before and after test object changes.

Vision-based detection is another AI technique where the layout and structure of the GUI are analyzed to detect changes. This is a typical application of AI.

 D. Using a ML-based classifier to flag if changes in GUI are to be flagged for humans.

An ML-based classifier can intelligently determine significant changes and decide if they need human review, which is a sophisticated AI application.

The syllabus highlights that testing for unnecessary human intervention is a key focus for autonomous AI-based systems:

"For autonomous AI-based systems, testers must ensure that the system does not prompt for unnecessary human intervention, as this contradicts the autonomy concept."

(Reference: ISTQB CT-AI Syllabus v1.0, Section 8.2, page 59 of 99)