Developing new catalysts requires large-scale, repetitive experiments with frequent changes to catalyst composition and reaction conditions. Manual experiments are time-consuming and error prone. A team has automated this process and significantly increased reproducibility by employing robots to manage reagent compositions and run the repeated tests.
I’m not arguing against the automation used in this particular case; that sounds perfectly reasonable.
I’m arguing that the only reason it’s newsworthy is because companies want to put a positive spin on automation right now, right as the majority of companies expanding automation aren’t doing it to benefit workers.
Ah, thx. Makes sense, now I get it.