Data Science Insider: December 16th, 2022

In This Week’s SuperDataScience Newsletter: Beware of Citizen Data Scientists. ML Algorithm Used to Classify 1,000 Supernovae. ArtStation Artists Stage Mass Protest. Google Moving Slowly on AI Chatbots Due To ‘Reputational Risk’. Did 2022 Predictions Come True? Cheers, - The SuperDataScience Team P.S. Have friends and colleagues who could benefit from these weekly updates? Send them to [this link]( to subscribe to the Data Science Insider. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Beware of Citizen Data Scientists]( brief: This article by Harvard Business Review is informed by the growing trend of companies using non-data scientists to leverage their AI efforts. It argues that the “democratizing” of data science and AI has led to many firms embracing auto-ML and sidelining data science experts. It suggests that this change has pros and cons and outlines a five-point plan for organisations looking to roll out a citizen data scientist-created model. It states that you should: Provide ongoing education, provide visibility into similar use cases within the organization, create an expert mentor program for AI novices, verify all projects by experts before AI is put into production, and provide resources for education and inspiration outside your organization. Why this is important: Data Scientists are highly educated experts in their fields. Although the increased use of citizen data scientists may undermine their importance, articles like this remind them of their unique talents. [Click here to learn more!]( [ML Algorithm Used to Classify 1,000 Supernovae]( brief: Caltech Astronomers have announced that they’ve classified 1,000 supernovae completely autonomously, using an ML algorithm that was applied to data secured by the Zwicky Transient Facility, or ZTF, a sky survey instrument based at Caltech's Palomar Observatory. The algorithm is named SNIascore and is a method for classifying thermonuclear supernovae (SNe Ia) using a spectroscope based on very low-resolution (R 100) data from DL. Before SNIascore’s development, ZTF searched the skies looking for changes called transient events but they gathered so much data each night that it was impossible for it all to be analysed. Supernovae can be split into Type I and Type II, for now, SNIascore can help to identify some Type I supernovae. Why this is important: There is hope that SNIascore will be able to identify different types of supernovae in the future, but what it can decipher offers a useful gauge of the rate at which the universe is expanding. [Click here to read on!]( [ArtStation Artists Stage Mass Protest]( In brief: ArtStation has been the centre of protests against AI-generated art with users flooding the platform with the same image posted over and over by different users: A large red "no" sign covering the word “AI” paired with a caption that reads “NO TO AI GENERATED IMAGES.” ArtStation is a hugely popular platform, owned by Epic Games, that allows game, film, media, and entertainment artists to connect and showcase their portfolios. Protests began after users noticed that AI-generated art was featured on the site’s main Explore page, which much of the discussion took place on Twitter. ArtStation responded by releasing a FAQ where it defended the inclusion of AI-generated works on its platform, further upsetting the protestors. Why this is important: Here at SuperDataScience we’ve discussed the uneasy feeling that many artists have toward AI-generating art before. This is a hot topic that seems to be becoming increasingly volatile. [Click here to discover more!]( [Google Moving Slowly on AI Chatbots Due To ‘Reputational Risk’]( In brief: Since its launch last month OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been dominating the news and many have questioned whether Google will jump on the bandwagon. At a recent all-hands meeting of Google staff, one of the top-rated questions was “Is this a missed opportunity for Google, considering we’ve had Lamda for a while?” The employees got a response from Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and Jeff Dean, the head of Google’s AI division who claimed that the company has similar capabilities to OpenAI but warned that the risk if something goes wrong would be greater because people have to trust the answers they get from Google. These fears of reputational risk have led to a more cautious approach. Why this is important: Google has billions of users while ChatGPT has only just crossed 1 million users in early December. Google has made it clear that they don’t believe that chatbots are ready to replace search. [Click here to see the full picture!]( [Did 2022 Predictions Come True?]( In brief: In December last year, we shared Forbes 2022 AI predictions, now it’s time to revisit them and see just how on the nose they were. Overall seven of their ten predictions were right or (right-ish) including Language AI will take centre stage, with more startups getting funded in NLP than in any other category of AI, powerful new AI tools will be built for video, collaboration and investment will all but cease between American and Chinese actors in the field of AI, multiple large cloud/data platforms will announce new synthetic data initiatives, and Toronto will establish itself as the most important AI hub in the world outside of Silicon Valley and China. Why this is important: This is the time of year when many predictions are buzzing around but we rarely get any follow-up. Forbes’ hit rate is good so it will be interesting to see what they predict for 2023. [Click here to find out more!]( [Super Data Science podcast]( this week's [Super Data Science Podcast](, Watchful CEO Shayan Mohanty talks about the pitfalls of data analysis when bias comes into the equation (spoiler alert: it always does), the importance of the Chomsky hierarchy in data management, and the importance of simulation engines for returning real-time results to users. --------------------------------------------------------------- What is the Data Science Insider? This email is a briefing of the week's most disruptive, interesting, and useful resources curated by the SuperDataScience team for Data Scientists who want to take their careers to the next level. Want to take your data science skills to the next level? Check out the [SuperDataScience platform]( and sign up for membership today! Know someone who would benefit from getting The Data Science Insider? 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