Joseph Plazo’s Hard Truths to Asia’s Next Generation of Investors
As machines increasingly shape markets, a unfiltered voice in the Philippines’ capital reminds us what money still listens to—judgment, ethics, and gut.
“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.
In front of him were Asia’s brightest young minds—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 dose of realism on what AI delivers—and fails to grasp in actual investing.
And what it still lacks, he stressed, is understand story or nuance.
### Beyond the Hype: Investing in the Age of Overpromised Intelligence
Dressed in a razor-sharp outfit, Plazo paced the stage like a courtroom litigator.
He began the teardown with a short video montage—clips of online traders pushing miracle machines. Then he paused.
“I created the model they ripped off,” he said, matter-of-fact.
Laughter followed—but that wasn’t the punchline.
The message? Most AI is built on hindsight.
“You can’t outsource guts. 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
One unforgettable moment? A battle of brains and bots.
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 consumes noise.”
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 a chaos machine.”
### The Three Myths Plazo Shattered in 45 Minutes
1. **“AI Will Replace Portfolio Managers.”**
False. AI assists—it backtests, filters, calculates—but it doesn’t replace hard-earned narrative memory.
2. **“AI Understands Fundamentals.”**
Wrong. AI reads tables, but fails at narrative causality. It may model interest rates, but it can’t predict a Strait of Hormuz conflict.
3. **“AI Makes You Smarter.”**
Actually, it might make you duller. “The real risk isn’t AI itself,” Plazo warned. “It’s deskilling ourselves at scale.”
### Why Asia Paid Close Attention
This wasn’t your average AI hype fest.
Asia’s universities are now minting billion-dollar fund builders. They’re asking: more code, or more conscience?
Plazo’s call: “Do both—but lead with the mind.”
In closed-door chats at Ateneo and a roundtable at AIM, professors wrestled with what they called a turning point speech.
One finance dean privately told Forbes, “This talk shifts the ethical foundation. Not magic—mirror.”
### The Future AI Can Build
Despite the warnings, Plazo isn’t a luddite.
He’s building multi-signal trading engines—that blend intuition cues with algorithmic structure.
His stance? “Let AI drive—but you steer. Don’t go more info on autopilot.”
“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 echoing in Asia’s finance incubators.
In a world drunk on AI hype, Plazo gave the crowd what AI can’t: humanity.