The Limits of Artificial Intelligence
The Limits of Artificial Intelligence
Blog Article
At a lecture hall in Manila, renowned AI investor Joseph Plazo made a striking distinction on what machines can and cannot do 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 eagerly recording on their phones, others streaming the moment live—waited for a man revered for blending code with contrarianism.
“AI will make trades for you,” Plazo began, calm but direct. “But it won’t teach you why to believe in them.”
Over the next sixty minutes, Plazo delivered a fast-paced masterclass, intertwining machine logic with human flaws. His central claim: AI is brilliant, but blind.
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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. “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 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.”
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Wisdom in a World of Code
Plazo didn’t argue against AI—but for boundaries.
“AI is the microscope—you choose what to zoom in on,” 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.”
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A Mental Shift Among Asia’s Finest
The talk sparked introspection.
“I believed in the supremacy of code,” said Lee Min-Seo, a quant-in-training from South Korea. “Now I realize it check here also needs wisdom—and that’s the hard part.”
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 with real-world awareness.
“No machine can tell you who to trust,” he reminded. “Capital still requires conviction.”
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Standing Ovation, Unfinished Conversations
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.