Algorithmic trading has the potential to replace human traders completely, according to one of the scientists who pioneered the use of advanced trading systems in the financial markets.

Speaking at last week's Financial News Trading for Investors conference in London, David Cliff, head of complex adaptive systems research at Hewlett-Packard Labs, said: "I don't see why everything a trader does can't be done by a machine. I don't want to say when it will happen as the technology is not there yet."