No, if you follow the rules of the order of operations, as stated all over the internet and without the “juxtaposition” theory, there is no ambiguity. Try it.
Do what is in the parentheses. 48/2(12)
Resolve left to right, since mult and div have same priority
24(12)
288
I don’t need to add any implied parentheses, just follow the rules.
The distributive property is one of the rules and you can’t pretend is doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t apply in a case like this, why have it at all?