The Limits of AI in Investing:
The Limits of AI in Investing:
Blog Article
Human Intelligence Still Wins in Finance’s Final Frontier
As machines increasingly shape markets, a unfiltered voice in the Philippines’ capital reminds us what money still listens to—judgment, ethics, and gut.
“Artificial intelligence won’t hand you fortune. But it will accelerate your losses.”
That was Joseph Plazo’s 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 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 opened fire with a short video montage—clips of online traders pushing miracle machines. Then he paused.
“I built the system they copied,” 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 believe in a trade—it mirrors what already happened.”
“When war unexpectedly explodes, when Powell coughs during a Fed announcement, when a bank tumbles before markets open—AI doesn’t notice. 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:
“Looks clean, but what about Japan’s unannounced intervention?. Your AI doesn’t see the invisible. 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 a chaos machine.”
### The Three Myths Plazo Shattered in 45 Minutes
1. **“AI Will Replace Portfolio Managers.”**
False. AI augments—it backtests, filters, calculates—but it doesn’t see through fog-of-war events.
2. **“AI Understands Fundamentals.”**
Wrong. AI decodes trends, but doesn’t grasp geopolitics. It may track oil supply, but it won’t flag a coup in Venezuela.
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 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? “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 applause echoed across campuses. And the ripple is still shaking up syllabi in Asia’s elite universities.
In a world drunk on AI hype, Joseph Plazo offered something here rare: intelligence that’s still human.