SRC Research Associate Daniel Beunza has spent many years shadowing New York Stock Exchange traders, to learn what would be lost if humans were removed from the buying and selling of securities. Since starting his research most exchanges around the world have closed their trading floors in favour of automated systems, and the NYSE has steadily pared down floor traders, to less than 1,000 now from about 5,000 at the exchange's peak in the early 2000s. Daniel believes however that this is a mistake, primarily because humans can make sense of situations in a way that computers can't. Daniel's research and findings are discussed fully in an article for the Wall Street Journal here.
