Finance innovator Joseph Plazo just told a room full of Asia’s brightest something Wall Street has been avoiding for years: AI may be powerful, but it’s not wise.
MANILA — This wasn’t a pep talk—it was a strategic slap.
On a sweltering Thursday morning at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, Plazo addressed a sea of students from top Asian universities—Kyoto—expecting a sermon on AI’s inevitable rise.
What they got instead? A masterclass in humility.
“AI is like your smartest intern,” Plazo smirked, “But you still don’t give the intern the keys to your vault.”
The room broke into giggles. Then they paused. Because he was dead serious.
### The Flaw in the Code: No Judgment
Let’s be clear—Plazo isn’t some technophobe clinging to the past. He builds trading AIs. His firm, Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital, runs some of the most accurate systems on global markets. He understands machine learning like few do.
But that’s exactly why his warning felt urgent.
“The problem isn’t AI,” he told the room. “It’s our wishful thinking. We keep dreaming it’ll save us from making hard decisions. It won’t.”
Plazo shared real-world case studies—moments when AI signaled winning trades… right before a central bank pivot or an unexpected war. Events that didn’t fit the algorithm.
### Smart Students Tried to Push Back—They Didn’t Win
A student from Kyoto asked if LLMs might someday gauge global sentiment.
Plazo didn’t flinch.
“AI can catch a tweetstorm. But it can’t hear fear in a press conference. It won’t catch regret in a central banker’s sigh.”
The room reacted. That hit different.
Another asked, “Can AI ever understand conviction?”
Plazo raised an eyebrow.
“Conviction isn’t math. It’s instinct. It’s forged by failure and memory. You can’t download that.”
### Plazo’s Words = Financial Therapy
This wasn’t about flash trading or chatbots. It was about ethics.
Students admitted they saw AI as a cheat code—an escape hatch from risk, from thinking too hard. Plazo called it out.
“You can automate your trades. You will never automate your judgment.”
That line landed. Because everyone in that room—from the copyright cowboys to the quant whizzes—wanted alpha. But not at the cost of their soul.
### Give AI the Tools—Not the Steering Wheel
Plazo didn’t trash AI. He credited its strengths:
- It filters noise.
- It backtests at scale.
- It tracks technical setups better than any human.
But it can’t read sarcasm. It won’t grasp when a politician is bluffing. And check here it doesn’t care if your retirement burns.
“If your AI bot makes a bad call,” Plazo asked, “do you still take the loss? Or do you hide behind the code?”
That was the mic drop.
### This Isn’t About AI—It’s About You
Plazo wasn’t preaching finance. He was preaching self-leadership. Use AI—but don’t worship it. Let it assist—not decide.
And yes—he still believes in the machines. He’s building tools that track geopolitics, misinformation, even psychological nuance.
But he left no doubt:
“No machine can tell you when *not* to act. That’s your job.”
### Final Thought: Maybe the Future Needs Less Code—And More Courage
As the crowd filed out—buzzing, challenged, changed—one phrase echoed down the halls:
“AI doesn’t know your values. So don’t let it make your decisions.”
In a world chasing speed, Plazo offered something rarer:
A pause.
Because investing isn’t just about *winning*. It’s about knowing **why** you played.