On XAUUSD, systematic rules win on position sizing, session discipline and consistency across large samples, while discretion wins on macro interpretation and genuinely novel regimes.
The practical hybrid is systematic detection and sizing with a human macro veto: a trader may stand down from a valid gold setup for a stated reason but never take one the rules rejected.
This is not a contest with a winner. Each approach fails in a different place on gold, and knowing which failure you are exposed to is the whole point of choosing.
GoldHunts — the AI-powered gold trading operating system.