What AI Can’t Replace:
What AI Can’t Replace:
Blog Article
Joseph Plazo’s Hard Truths to Asia’s Next Generation of Investors
While tech evangelists tout AI supremacy, a unfiltered voice in Southeast Asia issues a sharp reminder what money still listens to—conscience, context, and conviction.
“AI isn’t your golden ticket. But it will accelerate your losses.”
That was the provocative opener at his overflowing keynote at the University of the Philippines’ main forum—and it landed like a thunderclap.
In front of him were the region’s next-gen economists and AI thinkers—rising economists, AI researchers, and budding asset managers from leading institutions across Asia.
Plazo—a pioneer in intelligent trading systems—delivered a dose of realism on what AI delivers—and fails to grasp in live-market investing.
And what it can’t do, he stressed, is think like a human.
### Beyond the Hype: Investing in the Age of Overpromised Intelligence
Dressed in a tailored navy suit, Plazo paced the stage like a courtroom litigator.
He started boldly with a short video montage—clips of online traders pushing miracle machines. Then he paused.
“I created the model they ripped off,” he said, deadpan.
Laughter followed—but that wasn’t the punchline.
The message? AI is retrospective, not prophetic.
“You can’t outsource guts. AI doesn’t believe in a trade—it echoes what already happened.”
“When war breaks out, when Powell coughs during a Fed announcement, when a bank tumbles before markets open—AI stays blind. Humans do.”
### The Students Who Challenged Him—and Got Schooled
The highlight of the talk? A battle of brains and bots.
A student from NUS presented an AI-backed trade on the Nikkei—technically solid, sentiment-scanned, and data-rich.
Plazo studied it. Then said:
“Good. But you missed the BOJ’s stealth bond buy this morning. Your AI doesn’t read motive. It consumes noise.”
The audience leaned in. The student grinned. Then: applause.
Another moment: A robotics PhD from Kyoto asked if quantum computing would render all current models useless.
Plazo’s answer? “Yes—and no. Quantum speed won’t erase flawed logic. Train an AI on fear, and it’ll become hysteria with processing power.”
### The Three Myths Plazo Shattered in 45 Minutes
1. **“AI Will Replace Portfolio Managers.”**
Nope. AI augments—it crunches, optimizes, and speeds up decisions—but it doesn’t see through fog-of-war events.
2. **“AI Understands Fundamentals.”**
Wrong. AI interprets numbers, but doesn’t grasp geopolitics. It may track oil supply, but it won’t flag a coup in Venezuela.
3. **“AI Makes You Smarter.”**
Actually, it might lure you into dependency. “The danger isn’t in trusting AI,” Plazo warned. “It’s in forgetting how to think without it.”
### Why Asia Paid Close Attention
This wasn’t just another keynote.
Asia’s universities are now launching the next generation of quant leaders. They’re asking: more code, or more conscience?
Plazo’s get more info call: “Harness tech, but stay human.”
In closed-door chats at Ateneo and a roundtable at AIM, professors absorbed what they called a sobering perspective.
One finance dean privately told Forbes, “Joseph might have rebooted our entire AI syllabus. Not magic—mirror.”
### The Future AI Can Build
Despite the critique, Plazo isn’t anti-AI.
He’s building hybrid neural systems—integrating macro signals and crowd psychology.
His stance? “Ride with it. Don’t abdicate to it.”
“AI doesn’t need more data. It’s starving for judgment. And that still lives in humans.”
The crowd rose as one. And his message is still echoing in Asia’s finance incubators.
In a world drunk on AI hype, Plazo gave the crowd what AI can’t: humanity.