What the Machines Still Can't Do: Joseph Plazo’s Hard Truths for the Next Generation of Investors on the Boundaries of Artificial Intelligence
What the Machines Still Can't Do: Joseph Plazo’s Hard Truths for the Next Generation of Investors on the Boundaries of Artificial Intelligence
Blog Article
In a keynote address that fused engineering insights with emotional intelligence, fintech visionary Joseph Plazo challenged the assumptions of the academic elite: AI can do many things, but it cannot replace judgment.
MANILA — What followed wasn’t thunderous, but resonant—it carried the weight of contemplation. Inside the University of the Philippines’ grand lecture hall, handpicked scholars from across Asia anticipated a celebration of automation and innovation.
Instead, they got a warning.
Plazo, the man whose algorithms flirt with mythic win rates, didn’t deliver another AI sales pitch. Instead, he opened with a paradox:
“AI can beat the market. But only if you teach it when not to try.”
Phones were lowered.
What followed wasn’t evangelism. It was inquiry.
### Machines Without Meaning
His talk unraveled a common misconception: that data-driven machines can foresee financial futures alone.
He displayed footage of algorithmic blunders— trades that defied logic, machines acting on misread signals, and neural nets confused by human nuance.
“ Most of what we call AI is trained on yesterday. But tomorrow is where money is made.”
It wasn’t alarmist. It was sobering.
Then he delivered his punchline.
“ Can your code feel the 2008 crash? Not the price drop—the fear. The disbelief. The moment institutions collapsed like dominoes? ”
Silence.
### When Students Pushed Back
The Q&A wasn’t shy.
A doctoral student from Kyoto proposed that large language models are already picking up on emotional cues.
Plazo read more nodded. “ Sure. But emotion detection isn’t the same as consequence prediction.”
Another student from HKUST asked if real-time data and news could eventually simulate conviction.
Plazo replied:
“You can simulate storms. But you can’t fake the thunder. Conviction isn't just data—it’s character.”
### The Tools—and the Trap
He shifted the conversation: from tech to temptation.
He described traders who no longer read earnings reports or monetary policy—they just obeyed the algorithm.
“This is not evolution. It’s abdication.”
Yet he made it clear: AI is a tool, not a compass.
His firm uses sophisticated neural networks—with rigorous human validation.
“The most dangerous phrase of the next decade,” he warned, “will be: ‘The model told me to do it.’”
### Asia’s Crossroads
The message hit home in Asia, where automation is often embraced uncritically.
“There’s a spiritual reverence for AI here,” said Dr. Anton Leung, an ethics professor from Singapore. “The warning is clear: intelligence without interpretation is still dangerous.”
At a private gathering with professors, Plazo urged for AI literacy—not just in code, but in consequence.
“Teach them to think with AI, not just build it.”
Final Words
The ending wasn’t applause bait. It was a challenge.
“The market,” Plazo said, “is not a spreadsheet. It’s a novel. And if your AI doesn’t read character, it won’t understand the story.”
There was no cheering.
The applause, when it came, was subdued.
A professor compared it to hearing Taleb for the first time.
He didn’t market a machine.
And for those who came to worship at the altar of AI,
it was the wake-up call no one anticipated.