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Automated testing may be executed continuously without the need for human intervention, they are easily repeatable, and often faster. Automated tests are useful in situations where the test is to be executed several times, for example as part of [[regression testing]]. Automated tests can be disadvantageous when poorly written, leading to incorrect testing or broken tests being carried out.<ref>{{Cite book |lastlast1=Dingsøyr |firstfirst1=Torgeir |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRhGAAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA194&dq=Test+script+broken+tests&hlpg=enPA194 |title=Agile Software Development: Current Research and Future Directions |last2=Dybå |first2=Tore |last3=Moe |first3=Nils Brede |date=2010-05-26 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-12575-1 |language=en}}</ref>
Automated tests can, like any piece of software, be poorly written or simply break during playback.<ref>{{Cite book |lastlast1=Brambilla |firstfirst1=Marco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5EtEAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PA385&dq=Test+script+broken+tests&hlpg=enPA385 |title=Web Engineering: 21st International Conference, ICWE 2021, Biarritz, France, May 18–21, 2021, Proceedings |last2=Chbeir |first2=Richard |last3=Frasincar |first3=Flavius |last4=Manolescu |first4=Ioana |date=2021-05-11 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-74296-6 |language=en}}</ref> They also can only examine what they have been programmed to examine. Since most systems are designed with human interaction in mind, it is good practice that a human tests the system at some point. A trained manual tester can notice that the system under test is misbehaving without being prompted or directed; automated tests can only examine what they have been programmed to examine. When used in regression testing, manual testers can find new bugs while ensuring that old bugs do not reappear while an automated test can only ensure the latter. Mixed testing, with automated and manual testing, is often used; automating what needs to be tested often and can be easily checked by a machine, and using manual testing to do [[test design]] and [[exploratory testing]].
One should consider the [[return on investment]] for automating any given test script, i.e. does the cost to build and maintain that script cost less than it would take to simply execute it manually. Where cost can be measured in terms of time and/or money but also the opportunity cost of not freeing up people to do other work.{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}}
