“Automated Finance and the Ethics It Leaves Behind”
“Automated Finance and the Ethics It Leaves Behind”
Blog Article
Inside the auditorium of the Asian Institute of Management, Joseph Plazo—AI investor and founder of Plazo Sullivan Roche Capital—offered not hype, but hesitation.
In a city speeding toward fintech supremacy — 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 a 99% win rate, did not arrive to dazzle.
“Speed is nothing without direction.”
???? **Joseph Plazo: A Technologist With a Conscience**
This is no abstract philosophy. It’s professional reflection. He led the firm that made AI profitable.
Which makes his unease all the more compelling.
“There’s no wisdom in efficiency alone.”
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. The model was technically sound—but contextually catastrophic.”
???? **Why Pause Could Be the Last Power Humans Hold**
Plazo warned against the growing cultural obsession with speed—particularly in finance.
“Friction slows execution, but gives space for reflection.”
He introduced a three-question model he calls **Conviction Calculus**—a checklist not for technical performance, but for ethical clarity:
- What does this say about who we are?
- Is this merely a technical position—or a real-world one?
- Are we hiding behind the algorithm?
???? **The Human Cost of High-Speed Finance**
The investment in algorithmic systems is massive, and largely unregulated.
Plazo asked a harder question: “Can we build systems faster than we build the ethics to govern them?”
Recent high-profile failures stem not from incompetence—but overconfidence in automation.
“The systems are functional—but are they wise?”
???? **Trading Tools That Can Read the World, Not Just the Market**
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.
“A good algorithm predicts price. A better one understands pattern. The best? Purpose.”
The idea drew immediate attention.
One called the model:
“The future of finance, if it wants to have one.”
???? **Not All Collapses Scream First**
Plazo closed with a sentence that now circles boardrooms like a quiet echo:
“It won’t come from fear. It will come from code—unquestioned, unchallenged.”
It wasn’t an attack on AI—it here was an appeal to remain human.
Because we built the machines. But we still write the stories.