> Tests are a usability dead end -- I know this may be contentious, but I believe test suites are another realm of excessive moralizing en lieu of better tools and better processes. Too often they function as a security blanket that simply encases the parts of the code that are unit testable, while leaving the vulnerable, untestable bits fluttering in the wind. Approaches such as generative testing seem more promising.

I'm not quite sure what the author is arguing for here in particular.

Anything that makes writing tests a bit easier, e.g. suggestions for additional test cases, would be cool, but ultimately tests are about writing down your assumptions/expectations about the code.

No, they are not formal proofs and sometimes they are not perfect but they still provide a lot of value. So far I haven't found a good reason not to write tests (since I outgrew my newcomer attitude) and yeah integration tests are usually what I focus on most. For any case where testing whole systems today is hard, there are some fundamental challenges (e.g. end to end web UI test). I don't quite see how tooling will get rid of the need for tests.