The Limits of Artificial Intelligence
The Limits of Artificial Intelligence
Blog Article
In a packed amphitheater at the University of the Philippines, renowned AI investor Joseph Plazo made a striking distinction on what AI can and cannot achieve for the economic frontier—and why understanding this may define who wins in tomorrow’s markets.
Tension and curiosity pulsed through the room. Students—some furiously taking notes, others streaming the moment live—waited for a man revered for blending code with contrarianism.
“Machines will execute trades flawlessly,” he said with gravity. “But understanding the why—that’s still on you.”
Over the next lecture, Plazo delivered a fast-paced masterclass, balancing data science with real-world decision making. His central claim: AI is brilliant, but blind.
---
Bright Minds Confront the Machine’s Limits
Before him sat students and faculty from leading institutions like Kyoto, NUS, and HKUST, united by a shared fascination with finance and AI.
Many expected a celebration of AI's dominance. What they received was a provocation.
“There’s too much blind trust in code,” said Prof. Maria Castillo, an Oxford visiting fellow. “This lecture was a rare, necessary dose of skepticism.”
---
When Algorithms Miss the Mark
Plazo’s core thesis was both simple and unsettling: AI does not grasp nuance.
“AI won’t flinch, but neither will it foresee,” he warned. “It recognizes patterns—but ignores the power structures.”
He cited examples like the market chaos of early 2020, noting, “AI lagged—while humans had already hedged.”
---
Wisdom in a World of Code
Plazo didn’t argue against AI—but for boundaries.
“AI is the telescope—but you are still the astronomer,” he said. It analyzes—but lacks awareness.
Students pressed him on sentiment tracking, to which Plazo acknowledged: “Of course, it parses language patterns—but it can’t discern hesitation in a policymaker’s tone.”
---
A Mental Shift Among Asia’s Finest
The talk hit hard.
“I used to think AI just needed more data,” said Lee Min-Seo, a finance student from Seoul. here “Now I realize it also needs wisdom—and that’s the hard part.”
In a post-talk panel, regional leaders backed Plazo’s call. “These kids speak machine natively—but instinct,” said Dr. Raymond Tan, “doesn’t replace perspective.”
---
The Future Isn’t Autonomous—It’s Collaborative
Plazo shared that his firm is building “symbiotic systems”—AI that pairs statistical logic with situational nuance.
“Only you can judge character,” he reminded. “Belief isn’t programmable.”
---
The Speech That Started a Thousand Debates
As Plazo exited the stage, the crowd rose. But more importantly, they lingered.
“I came for machine learning,” said a PhD candidate. “But I got a lesson in human insight.”
And maybe that’s the real power of AI’s limits: they force us to rediscover our own.