Editors vs algorithms: which is the winner in media?

Last month I watched Claire Beale of Campaign interview Lorraine Candy of Elle at Magnetic's annual Spark event. Speaking "editor-in-chief to editor-in-chief", Beale asked Candy what role human editors had in an age of data and algorithms. Candy's answer was simple: "We [editors] are the walking algorithms". Her contention was well received in the room, but perhaps unsurprising given her role. AI is also becoming mainstream.