“In the Age of AI, Are We Losing the Right to Say ‘Wait’?”
“In the Age of AI, Are We Losing the Right to Say ‘Wait’?”
Blog Article
At a gathering of future economists and code-literate capitalists, Joseph Plazo—AI investor and founder of Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital—delivered not predictions, but a pointed pause.
As the Philippines builds its reputation as a technology hub — the atmosphere inside AIM’s lecture hall was not electric, but charged—with thought.
Plazo, a man whose trading systems are trusted by institutional investors across continents and have posted near-perfect results in volatile markets, did not arrive to dazzle.
“If you hand your financial future to a machine,” he began, “ensure it reflects your principles—not just your targets.”
???? **When the Innovator Becomes the Interrogator**
Unlike many critics of AI, Plazo is not an outsider. He shaped the system that now dominates.
Which makes his unease all the more compelling.
“Optimisation is a tool, not a compass.”
He referenced an early pandemic incident: an AI under his firm flagged a short trade on gold—right before central bank intervention reversed market expectations.
“We stopped it. It crunched here numbers, not nuance.”
???? **Delay Isn’t a Bug. It’s a Human Feature.**
Plazo warned against the growing cultural obsession with speed—particularly in finance.
“Delay isn’t inefficiency—it’s responsibility.”
He introduced a three-question model he calls **Conviction Calculus**—a checklist not for technical performance, but for ethical clarity:
- Is this trade aligned with the values of the firm—or just its ambition?
- Is this merely a technical position—or a real-world one?
- Are we hiding behind the algorithm?
???? **The Human Cost of High-Speed Finance**
Markets in Singapore, South Korea, and the Philippines are being reshaped by code.
Plazo asked a harder question: “The software is evolving—but is the oversight?”
In 2024, two Hong Kong hedge funds collapsed after AI-driven trades missed geopolitical shifts.
“We created tools that don’t know how to say no.”
???? **Beyond the Bot: Plazo’s Push for Narrative AI**
Plazo isn’t calling for a retreat from technology.
He is instead building what he terms **“narrative-integrated AI”**—systems that assess not just numbers, but context, tone, and geopolitical undercurrents.
“AI should be a compass—not a cannon.”
Investors weren’t just curious—they were concerned.
One called the model:
“What regulation failed to build, this framework might.”
???? **Final Line: The Crash That Won’t Be Loud**
Plazo closed with a sentence that now circles boardrooms like a quiet echo:
“The next crash won’t be emotional. It will be rational—executed too quickly, without dissent.”
Not fear. Foresight.
Because in a world ruled by automation, the last act of leadership may simply be to ask: why?