Where AI Falls Short: A Cautionary Tale for Future Investors
Where AI Falls Short: A Cautionary Tale for Future Investors
Blog Article
In a packed amphitheater at the University of the Philippines, Joseph Plazo laid down the gauntlet on what AI can and cannot achieve for the future of finance—and why that distinction matters now more than ever.
You could feel the electricity in the crowd. Young scholars—some clutching notebooks, others broadcasting to friends across Asia—waited for a man known not only as an AI visionary, but also a contrarian investor.
“Algorithms can execute,” Plazo opened with authority. “It won’t tell you when not to trust them.”
Over the next hour, he took the audience from Silicon Valley to Shanghai, touching on everything from quantum computing to cognitive bias. His central claim: Artificial intelligence is impressive—but it lacks soul.
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Top Students Meet a Tough Truth
Before him sat students and faculty from a multi-nation academic alliance, gathered under a technology consortium.
Many expected a praise-filled keynote of AI's dominance. Plazo had other plans.
“There’s a rising cult of algorithmic faith,” said Prof. Maria Castillo, a respected AI ethicist from the UK. “We need this kind of discomfort in academia.”
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Why AI Still Doesn’t Get It
Plazo’s core thesis was both simple and unsettling: AI does not grasp nuance.
“AI won’t flinch, but neither will it foresee,” he warned. “It recognizes patterns—but ignores the power structures.”
He cited examples like the market chaos of early 2020, noting, “Machines were late to the signal. People weren’t.”
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Reclaiming the Edge: Why Humans Still Matter
Plazo didn’t argue against AI—but for boundaries.
“AI is the microscope—you choose what to zoom in on,” he said. It works—but doesn’t wonder.
Students pressed him on AI in news and social chatter, to which Plazo acknowledged: “Yes, it can scan Twitter sentiment—but it can’t smell fear in a boardroom.”
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Asia Reflects: From Tech Worship to Tech Wisdom
The talk hit hard.
“I used to think AI just needed more data,” said Lee Min-Seo, a finance student from Seoul. “Now I see it’s judgment, not just data, that matters.”
In a post-talk panel, regional leaders backed Plazo’s call. “These kids speak machine natively—but instinct,” said Dr. Raymond Tan, “doesn’t replace perspective.”
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The Future Isn’t Autonomous—It’s Collaborative
Plazo shared that his firm is building “symbiotic systems”—AI that pairs statistical logic with situational nuance.
“Only you can judge character,” he reminded. “Belief isn’t programmable.”
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The Speech That Started a Thousand Debates
As Plazo exited the stage, the crowd rose. But more importantly, they lingered.
“I came for machine learning,” said a PhD candidate. “But I got a lesson in human insight.”
And maybe that’s the real power of AI’s limits: they force us to rediscover our more info own.