What AI Can’t Replace:
What AI Can’t Replace:
Blog Article
A Wake-Up Call from Manila’s Leading AI Strategist
While tech evangelists tout AI supremacy, a bold voice in Manila issues a sharp reminder that judgment still beats the algorithm—conscience, context, and conviction.
“AI isn’t your golden ticket. But it will make your mistakes faster.”
That was the provocative opener at his standing-room-only keynote at the University of the Philippines’ academic hall—and it landed like a thunderclap.
Before him were hundreds of future fund managers and technologists—rising economists, AI researchers, and budding asset managers from Asia’s top universities.
Plazo—venture strategist, AI architect, and CEO of Plazo Sullivan Roche—unveiled a truth-filled lecture on what AI can and can’t do in actual investing.
And what it can’t do, 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 started boldly with a short video montage—YouTubers hawking AI bots. Then he paused.
“I engineered what they now sell as magic,” he said, dryly.
The crowd chuckled—but ego wasn’t the point.
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 stays blind. Humans do.”
### 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:
“Good. But you missed the BOJ’s stealth bond buy this morning. Your AI doesn’t sense the bluff. It scans headlines.”
The audience leaned in. The student grinned. 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. Faster chips won’t purge panic from data. Train an AI on fear, and it’ll become panic on steroids.”
### The Three Myths Plazo Shattered in 45 Minutes
1. **“AI Will Replace Portfolio Managers.”**
Not quite. AI assists—it crunches, optimizes, and speeds up decisions—but it doesn’t replace gut instinct.
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 weaken your edge. “AI won’t kill you—but your laziness might,” Plazo website warned. “It’s deskilling ourselves at scale.”
### Why Asia Paid Close Attention
This wasn’t a TED-style pep talk.
Asia’s universities are now home to finance’s future titans. 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 clarion call.
One finance dean shared off-record, “This talk shifts the ethical foundation. Not magic—mirror.”
### The Future AI Can Build
Despite the warnings, Plazo isn’t against innovation.
He’s building models that read psychology as well as numbers—that blend intuition cues with algorithmic structure.
His stance? “Co-pilot AI. Don’t worship it.”
“AI doesn’t need more data. It needs discernment. And that still belongs to us.”
The standing ovation was thunderous. And the ripple is still moving in Asia’s halls of learning.
In a world drunk on AI hype, Plazo gave the crowd what AI can’t: humanity.