Keynote Speech

Hey ChatGPT, are you ready to support qualitative research in software engineering? Please answer without hallucinating!

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the software engineering research community has increasingly focused on investigating the human and social aspects of the field. Not rarely, investigations on social aspects still raise controversial opinions on relevance and validity. Besides, it is no secret that sampling and recruiting human participants remain a cornerstone issue. Despite these obstacles, it is undeniable that shifting focus to human-centered investigations led the field to mature in qualitative research, also helping to bridge the gap between research and practice. More recently, the surge in Generative AI has significantly impacted software engineering research, accounting for a substantial share of scientific publications since 2023—although it has so far only timidly addressed qualitative research. In this keynote, we will engage in a bold yet smooth and open discussion about the (current) potential of Generative AI to support human-centered studies in Software Engineering, considering the different stages of the research process.

About the Speaker

Rafael de Mello is a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and also works in IT at BNDES, the largest development bank in the Global South. He has over 20 years of industry experience, with a focus on the financial and banking sectors. A skeptical surfer in the sea of empiricism, he nearly drowned in the Agile wave, and now tries to surf the Generative AI wave on a board called evidence. For the past decade, Rafael has researched the socio-technical aspects of Software Engineering, pioneering the use of social psychology theories—such as social representations and social identity—in the field. His publications include award-winning papers in conferences like ICSE, FSE, and ESEM. Rafael recognizes himself as a former “Reviewer 2” striving to provide constructive feedback in reviewing articles submitted to venues such as ESEM, ICSE (New Ideas), and CIBSE. His current research interests include Empirical Software Engineering, Software Dependability, and Software Quality Assurance.