“Joseph Plazo to Future Traders: Your Algorithms Don’t Know Right from Wrong”
“Joseph Plazo to Future Traders: Your Algorithms Don’t Know Right from Wrong”
Blog Article
In a gathering of AI developers, analysts, and traders, Joseph Plazo—founder of the algorithmic trading firm Plazo Sullivan Roche—broke the rhythm of praise for AI with a moment of reckoning.
Inside one of Southeast Asia’s most influential business schools — What he offered instead was something rarely heard in AI circles: resistance.
“Profit isn’t the only thing on the line. So is principle.”
???? **Joseph Plazo: A Technologist Sounding the Alarm**
Plazo is not new to this space. His firm’s AI systems have posted a 99% win rate across key timeframes and are in use by institutional clients across Europe and Asia.
Yet even with these results, he insists—performance isn’t the only metric.
“Optimisation is only part of the equation,” Plazo explained. “Direction, purpose—those remain human.”
He shared a case from the early days of the pandemic. One of his firm’s bots flagged a short on gold just before the U.S. Federal Reserve issued an emergency policy shift.
“We overrode it. The algorithm was correct—but profoundly unaware.”
???? **When Pausing Is a Form of Leadership**
Traders are trained to move quickly—too quickly.
“Friction is not failure,” Plazo told the audience. “It is the space where judgment lives.”
Plazo introduced a framework he click here calls **“Conviction Calculus”**—three questions that must be asked before executing an AI recommendation:
- Are we outsourcing our ethics to an equation?
- Are we listening to voices that can’t be graphed?
- Can we stand by this choice if it goes wrong—publicly, transparently?
???? **The Bigger Picture: Asia’s Tech Acceleration and the Governance Gap**
Across Asia, nations are investing heavily in fintech and AI-driven innovation. From Singapore to South Korea, the push toward automation is framed as economic strategy.
But Plazo’s question cuts deeper: “We’re scaling faster than we’re thinking.”
He warned of systems designed to win—but not to pause.
“These weren’t errors of greed or emotion. They were perfectly logical moves—executed without context.”
???? **The Alternative: Narrative AI That Considers More Than Numbers**
Plazo is not anti-AI. He’s pro-responsibility.
His firm is developing what he calls **“narrative-integrated AI”**—models that factor in geopolitics, tone, and social context alongside market data.
“The future isn’t faster bots—it’s smarter, humbler ones.”
At a private dinner after the event, multiple venture capital leaders discussed collaborations.
One investor called Plazo’s talk:
“A blueprint for ethical AI in an unequal world.”
???? **What Happens When No One Says ‘Stop’**
Plazo ended with a thought that may echo across boardrooms:
“Emotion won’t trigger the fall. Certainty will.”
It wasn’t fearmongering. It was foresight.
Because when machines take over the trades, conscience cannot be coded out.