> The process is as much a human experience as is the result.

Sure, but in your scenario, the process is the experience for a small group of people, while the result benefits everyone (perhaps not directly, but ultimately via a chain of applications). Which one is more important?

It's not at all a new dilemma either. Jacquard looms destroyed the "human experience" of manual weaving for craftsmen who spent decades to perfect their skill. They also made clothing orders of magnitude cheaper for everyone else.