Human Intelligence Still Wins in Finance’s Final Frontier
As machines increasingly shape markets, a defiant voice in the Philippines’ capital reminds us that money still bends to human instinct—judgment, ethics, and gut.
“AI won’t make you rich. But it will amplify your errors at scale.”
That was Joseph Plazo’s provocative opener at his overflowing keynote at the University of the Philippines’ amphitheater—and it hit the crowd like a whipcrack.
Facing him were hundreds of future fund managers and technologists—rising economists, AI researchers, and budding asset managers from Asia’s top universities.
Plazo—venture strategist, AI architect, and CEO of Plazo Sullivan Roche—delivered a dose of realism on what AI delivers—and fails to grasp in real-world investing.
And what it misses, he stressed, is replace your instinct.
### Beyond the Hype: Investing in the Age of Overpromised Intelligence
Dressed in a tailored navy suit, Plazo moved like a cross between preacher and prosecutor.
He began the teardown with a short video montage—YouTubers hawking AI bots. Then he paused.
“I engineered what they now sell as magic,” he said, deadpan.
The crowd chuckled—but ego wasn’t the point.
The message? AI is retrospective, not prophetic.
“You can’t outsource conviction. AI doesn’t carry skin in a trade—it reacts what already happened.”
“When war breaks out, when Powell coughs during a Fed announcement, when a bank implodes overnight—AI stays blind. We do.”
### The Students Who Challenged Him—and Got Schooled
The jaw-dropper? A live AI-vs-human trading duel.
A student from NUS presented an AI-backed trade on the Nikkei—equipped with indicators, trends, and sentiment metrics.
Plazo eyed it. Then said:
“Solid—but blind to central bank footprints. Your AI doesn’t read motive. It reads tweets.”
The audience murmured. The student bowed slightly. 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 supports—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 can’t see through diplomatic posturing. It may model interest rates, but it can’t predict a Strait of Hormuz conflict.
3. **“AI Makes You Smarter.”**
Actually, it might weaken your edge. “The real risk isn’t AI itself,” Plazo warned. “It’s deskilling ourselves at scale.”
### Why Asia Paid Close Attention
This wasn’t a TED-style pep talk.
Asia’s universities are now launching the next generation of quant leaders. They’re asking: more code, or more conscience?
Plazo’s call: “Code, but think critically.”
In closed-door chats at Ateneo and a roundtable at AIM, professors absorbed what they called a sobering perspective.
One finance dean remarked candidly, “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 multi-signal trading engines—integrating macro signals and read more crowd psychology.
His stance? “Let AI drive—but you steer. Don’t go on autopilot.”
“It’s not starving for stats. It’s missing context. And that still can’t be coded.”
The standing ovation was thunderous. And the ripple is still moving in Asia’s halls of learning.
In a world drunk on AI hype, Joseph Plazo offered something rare: intelligence that’s still human.