At a lecture hall in Manila, renowned AI investor Joseph Plazo made a striking distinction on what machines can and cannot do for the future of finance—and why that distinction matters now more than ever.

You could feel the electricity in the crowd. Young scholars—some furiously taking notes, others capturing every word via livestream—waited for a man known not only as an AI visionary, but also a contrarian investor.

“Machines will execute trades flawlessly,” Plazo opened with authority. “But understanding the why—that’s still on you.”

Over the next hour, he took the audience from Silicon Valley to Shanghai, touching on everything from quantum computing to cognitive bias. His central claim: Artificial intelligence is impressive—but it lacks soul.

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The Audience: Elite, Curious—and Disarmed

Before him sat students and faculty from a multi-nation academic alliance, gathered under a technology consortium.

Many expected a praise-filled keynote of AI's dominance. Plazo had other plans.

“There’s a rising cult of algorithmic faith,” said Prof. Maria Castillo, a respected AI ethicist from the UK. “We need this kind of discomfort in academia.”

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The Machine’s Blindness: Plazo’s Case for Caution

Plazo’s core thesis was both simple and unsettling: AI does not grasp nuance.

“AI doesn’t panic—but it doesn’t anticipate,” he warned. “It finds trends, but not intentions.”

He cited examples like machine-driven funds failing to respond to COVID news, noting, “By the time the algorithms adjusted, the humans were already positioned.”

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Reclaiming the Edge: Why Humans Still Matter

Rather than dismiss AI, Plazo proposed a partnership.

“AI is the vehicle—but you decide the direction,” he said. It sees—but doesn’t think.

Students pressed him on behavioral economics, to which Plazo acknowledged: “Sure, it can flag Reddit anomalies—but it can’t feel a market’s pulse.”

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The Ripple Effect on a Digital Generation

The talk left a mark.

“I believed in the supremacy of code,” said Lee Min-Seo, a quant-in-training from South Korea. “Turns out, insight can’t be uploaded.”

In a post-talk panel, faculty and entrepreneurs echoed the caution. “This generation is born with algorithmic reflexes—but instinct,” said Dr. Raymond Tan, “is not insight.”

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What’s Next? AI That Thinks in Narratives

Plazo shared that his firm is building “co-intelligence”—AI that blends pattern recognition get more info with real-world awareness.

“No machine can tell you who to trust,” he reminded. “Capital still requires conviction.”

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An Ending That Sparked a Beginning

As Plazo exited the stage, the hall erupted. But more importantly, they started debating.

“I came for machine learning,” said a PhD candidate. “Instead, I got something more powerful—perspective.”

Perhaps, in drawing boundaries for AI, we expand our own.