A Reckoning with the Machines: Joseph Plazo’s Hard Truths for the Next Generation of Investors on Why AI Still Needs Humans
A Reckoning with the Machines: Joseph Plazo’s Hard Truths for the Next Generation of Investors on Why AI Still Needs Humans
Blog Article
In a bold and sobering address, fintech visionary Joseph Plazo challenged the assumptions of the next generation of investors: AI can do many things, but it cannot replace judgment.
MANILA — The applause wasn’t merely courteous—it reflected a deep, perhaps uneasy, resonance. At the packed University of the Philippines auditorium, students from Asia’s top institutions came in awe of AI’s potential to dominate global markets.
What they received was something else entirely.
Joseph Plazo, long revered as a maverick in algorithmic finance, refused to glorify the machine. He began with a paradox:
“AI can beat the market. But only if you teach it when not to try.”
Students leaned in.
This wasn’t a coronation of AI, but a reckoning.
### Machines Without Meaning
His talk unraveled a common misconception: that data-driven machines can foresee financial futures alone.
He showcased clips of catastrophic AI trades— trades that defied logic, machines acting on misread signals, and neural nets confused by human nuance.
“Most models are just beautiful regressions of yesterday. But tomorrow is where money is made.”
It wasn’t alarmist. It was sobering.
Then came the core question.
“ 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
Bright minds pushed back.
A doctoral student from Kyoto proposed that large language models are already picking up on emotional cues.
Plazo nodded. “Yes. But sensing anger is not the same as understanding it. here ”
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
Plazo warned of a coming danger: not faulty AI, but blind faith in it.
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.
He runs layered AI systems to dissect market sentiment—but humans remain in charge.
“The most dangerous phrase of the next decade,” he warned, “will be: ‘The model told me to do it.’”
### Asia’s Crossroads
The speech resonated especially in Asia, where tech optimism runs high.
“There’s a spiritual reverence for AI here,” said Dr. Anton Leung, an ethics professor from Singapore. “Plazo reminded us that even intelligence needs wisdom.”
At a private gathering with professors, Plazo urged for AI literacy—not just in code, but in consequence.
“We don’t just need AI coders—we need AI philosophers.”
Final Words
The ending wasn’t applause bait. It was a challenge.
“The market,” Plazo said, “isn’t just numbers. It’s a story. And if your AI doesn’t read character, it won’t understand the story.”
No one clapped right away.
The applause, when it came, was subdued.
Another said it reminded them of Steve Jobs at Stanford.
He didn’t market a machine.
And for those who came to worship at the altar of AI,
it was the lecture that questioned their faith.