From Robots assisting Humans to Humans assisting Robots

New technologies in analytics, automation and big data analysis are revolutionizing research and laboratories are changing faster than ever before. The lab of the future is modular, highly automated, and can work with tiny sample volumes down to the single cell. Digital lab twins, machine learning and artificial intelligence enable the analysis of huge amounts of data. Fields of application include modeling and simulation and new approaches to experimental design. The interaction of digitalization, miniaturization and automation is fundamentally changing workflows and thus also how researchers in biotechnology and life sciences work. What role will robots and artificial intelligence play in the lab of the future, and where will human creativity and expertise come in? The ACHEMA Highlight Session on 24.8.2022 discussed these and other questions.