In a packed amphitheater at the University of the Philippines, tech entrepreneur and investment icon Joseph Plazo drew a bold line 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 furiously taking notes, others streaming the moment live—waited for a man revered for blending code with contrarianism.

“AI will make trades for you,” he said with gravity. “But understanding the why—that’s still on you.”

Over the next lecture, he swept across global tech frontiers, balancing data science with real-world decision making. His central claim: Machines are powerful, but not wise.

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The Audience: Elite, Curious—and Disarmed

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.”

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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, “Machines were late to the signal. People weren’t.”

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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 works—but doesn’t wonder.

Students pressed him on AI in news and social chatter, to which Plazo acknowledged: “Of course, website it parses language patterns—but it can’t smell fear in a boardroom.”

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Asia Reflects: From Tech Worship to Tech Wisdom

The talk hit hard.

“I used to think AI just needed more data,” said Lee Min-Seo, a finance student from Seoul. “Now I see it’s judgment, not just data, that matters.”

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.”

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The Future Isn’t Autonomous—It’s Collaborative

Plazo shared that his firm is building “symbiotic systems”—AI that understands not just volatility, but motive.

“Only you can judge character,” he reminded. “Belief isn’t programmable.”

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The Speech That Started a Thousand Debates

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

“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.