BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., May 1 (Reuters) - Traditional stock-pickers in the hedge fund world have been struggling to justify their expenses and weak returns in recent years, as low-cost algorithmic funds have done better. Now, human managers are starting to embrace the technologies employed by their robot rivals to improve results. Prominent hedge fund managers, investors and consultants gathered at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills this week said the industry is increasingly turning to big-data analysis, machine learning and other types of artificial intelligence to research investments or build on ideas.