In a packed amphitheater at the University of the Philippines, Joseph Plazo laid down the gauntlet on what AI can and cannot achieve 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 clutching notebooks, others capturing every word via livestream—waited for a man known not only as an AI visionary, but also a contrarian investor.

“Algorithms can execute,” Plazo opened with authority. “It won’t tell you when not to trust them.”

Over the next sixty minutes, he took the audience from Silicon Valley to Shanghai, intertwining machine logic with human flaws. His central claim: Artificial intelligence is impressive—but it lacks soul.

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Top Students Meet a Tough Truth

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. “Plazo’s words were uncomfortable—but essential.”

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Why AI Still Doesn’t Get It

Plazo’s core thesis was both simple and unsettling: code can’t read between the lines.

“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: “Yes, it can scan Twitter sentiment—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, tech mentors agreed with his sentiment. “They’ve been raised by data—but instinct,” said Dr. Raymond Tan, “is only half the story.”

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Co-Intelligence: Merging Math with Meaning

Plazo shared that his firm is building “hybrid cognition models”—AI that understands not just volatility, but motive.

“Ethics can’t be read more outsourced to software,” he reminded. “Judgment remains human territory.”

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An Ending That Sparked a Beginning

As Plazo exited the stage, students applauded. But more importantly, they stayed behind.

“I came for machine learning,” said a PhD candidate. “But I got a lesson in human insight.”

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