A Wake-Up Call from Manila’s Leading AI Strategist

In an age of algorithmic promises, a bold voice in Southeast Asia issues a sharp reminder that money still bends to human instinct—conscience, context, and conviction.

“AI won’t make you rich. But it will amplify your errors at scale.”

That was the blistering opener at his jam-packed keynote at the University of the Philippines’ main forum—and it hit the crowd like a whipcrack.

Facing him were the region’s next-gen economists and AI thinkers—portfolio hopefuls, quant researchers, and finance scholars from leading institutions across Asia.

Plazo—CEO of a firm at the intersection of AI and capital—delivered a roadmap on what AI offers—and where it falls short in real-world investing.

And what it misses, he stressed, is think like a human.

### Beyond the Hype: Investing in the Age of Overpromised Intelligence

Dressed in a bespoke ensemble, Plazo commanded the stage with surgical precision.

He started boldly with a short video montage—social media influencers promising 90% win rates. Then he paused.

“I built the system they copied,” he said, dryly.

The crowd chuckled—but this wasn’t ego.

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 frowns during a Fed announcement, when a bank goes under—AI doesn’t flinch. That’s where we come in.”

### 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:

“Solid—but blind to central bank footprints. Your AI doesn’t read motive. It consumes noise.”

The audience leaned in. 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 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 model interest rates, but it doesn’t hear whispers in Davos.

3. **“AI Makes You Smarter.”**
Actually, it might lure you into dependency. “The danger isn’t in trusting AI,” Plazo warned. “It’s losing your grip on human reason.”

### Why Asia Paid Close Attention

This wasn’t just another keynote.

Asia’s universities are now home to finance’s future titans. They’re asking: more code, or more conscience?

Plazo’s call: “Harness tech, but stay human.”

In closed-door chats at Ateneo and a roundtable click here at AIM, professors wrestled with what they called a turning point speech.

One finance dean privately told Forbes, “Joseph might have rebooted our entire AI syllabus. Not magic—mirror.”

### The Future AI Can Build

Despite the warnings, Plazo isn’t a luddite.

He’s building multi-signal trading engines—integrating macro signals and crowd psychology.

His stance? “Ride with it. Don’t abdicate to it.”

“It’s not starving for stats. It’s missing context. And that still can’t be coded.”

The applause echoed across campuses. And that jolt of insight is still shaking up syllabi in Asia’s elite universities.

In a world drunk on AI hype, he delivered the one thing no model ever could—wisdom.