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 Machines are good at complex tasks, but not at activities that humans find simple.
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 future are made by machines?
 Photograph: Blutgruppe/Blutgruppe/Corbis Guardian sustainable business business futures What will artificial intelligence mean for the world of work?
 Machines are good at complex tasks, but not at activities that humans find simple.
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18 GMT What can scientists tell us about business?
 I had an opportunity to consider this important question when, earlier this year, I led a debate with four professors from the University of California, Berkeley, who were experts in artificial intelligence, neuroscience and psychology.
 The question under discussion was one of the most troubling of our time: will machines ever make better decisions than humans?
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 Around 50% agreed and 50% disagreed; there is no consensus on such a tricky question.
 The first issue with the problem of future decision-making is well-known to scientists specialising in artificial intelligence.
 It is best described in Moravec’s paradox: why is it that computers are very good at undertaking tasks that require speed and precision, and which humans find difficult (such as solving mathematical equations, playing chess, or even driving cars), and yet bad at tasks we humans find simple, such as clearing coffee cups from a table?
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 Can computers have values?
 The artificial intelligence expert Stuart Russell argues that it is already possible to programme computers on the basis of utility, in terms of gaining the highest-value outcome.
 However, programming is still carried out on the basis of the values of the programmer.