Test Automation Does Not Replace Testers

Back when automobile companies started putting robots on the assembly line, lots of blue collar workers lost their jobs. The robots were more efficient, faster, and didn't need bathroom breaks. By switching over to an automated process, the auto companies produced more cars faster. And according to them, they were produced cheaper and more efficiently.

Some folks have the same thought about automated testing. "If we automate all our tests, we can lay off half our test team! Think about the cost savings!"

These people are idiots.

See, testing isn't like auto manufacturing. An assembly line worker who's putting wheels on a car does just that. He's not inspecting the wheel for defects, he's not verifying the welds on the axle where the wheel goes, he's just attaching the wheel. There's an inspector later on down the line that checks the work. That assembler's work can be automated with no problem, because he's doing a simple, repetitive, monotonous task.

Testing is different. Yes, there are monotonous regression tests that need to be run, but even when your testers are following a test case, they're still observing beyond what's in the test. If a test step says "Click the OK button to see the login screen" and doing that shows the login screen, that's great. But if clicking that button shows the login screen and also turns the screen bright pink, a tester will log a bug, even though the scripted behavior is correct. Robots don't think beyond what they're told. They can't deduce, reason, or infer. Remember that.

Also, when a robot replaces an assembly line worker, it completely replaces all tasks that worker did. In my example above, the only thing that worker did was put tires on a car. It's highly unlikely that your manual test team only has a handful of test cases. More likely, they're scrambling to make sure the basic functionality test cases are covered. Automating the basic tests will free them up to work on more advanced tasks, which, let me assure you, there is no lack of.

Automation augments your testers, and it lets them work more efficiently. But it should never be viewed as a way to replace the people on your test team.