Data Science Insider: May 12th, 2023

In This Week’s SuperDataScience Newsletter: Data Science Transforms Parcel Shipping. Google Upgrades Search with AI. Data Masking Ensures GDPR Compliance. Quantum Physics Challenges Statistics. ML Improves Acupuncture Research. 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. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Data Science Transforms Parcel Shipping]( brief: The parcel shipping industry is undergoing a data science-driven transformation that promises to make shipping more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable. Data science is revolutionising the industry by enabling companies to optimize every aspect of the shipping process, from the size and weight of parcels to the routes taken by delivery vehicles. The use of predictive analytics is also allowing companies to anticipate and prevent shipping delays and other problems. Additionally, data science is helping companies reduce their carbon footprint by minimizing the distance traveled by delivery vehicles and improving the energy efficiency of warehouses. As the parcel shipping industry continues to evolve, data science will play an increasingly important role in shaping its future. Why this is important: McKinsey estimates that by 2025, parcels will equal mail in volume, making their shipping an important business. As this Forbes article points out parcel shipping is an industry that relies on a strong consulting presence as data needs to be analysed despite not being standardised and data science’s success in this field may lead to increased adoption in other industries. [Click here to learn more!]( [Google Upgrades Search with AI]( brief: Google has unveiled a range of upgrades to its search capabilities that are designed to leverage generative AI and natural language processing. The upgrades aim to provide users with more relevant and personalised search results. One of the key features that has generated lots of buzz is the use of generative AI to create “perspectives” that offer different angles on a particular topic. The perspectives are generated by identifying the most common themes and concepts related to a query and using them to create new content. Another hotly anticipated aspect is the use of natural language processing to better understand the context of a query and provide more accurate and helpful results. Why this is important: The news came from Google’s I/O keynote which was full of announcements that mostly related to AI. Google CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged that OpenAI's ChatGPT has shaped what Google's been working on and Pichai opened the event by stating that Google has now positioned itself as an "AI-first" company. [Click here to read on!]( [Data Masking Ensures GDPR Compliance]( In brief: Data masking is an essential technique for ensuring regulatory compliance, particularly with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By masking sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII), data owners can comply with GDPR and other regulations while still using the data for analytics and other purposes. This KDNuggets article gives a detailed breakdown of data masking techniques - including substitution, where sensitive data is replaced with fictitious data, and shuffling, where data elements are randomly rearranged. The article clearly explains data masking’s usefulness to us data scientists but also suggests that it is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and emphasizes that companies must carefully evaluate their specific needs and regulatory requirements when implementing data masking strategies. Why this is important: This article is a useful guide that gives a clear insight into how data masking can be a crucial tool for maintaining compliance with regulations and protecting sensitive data. However, it is important to remember its limitations and use other resources where appropriate. [Click here to discover more!]( [Quantum Physics Challenges Statistics]( In brief: This Towards Data Science article aims to decipher the data science behind the Nobel Prize in Physics, which was awarded to Alain Aspect, John Clauser, and Anton Zeilinger “for experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science.” The article explains that quantum physics has challenged the fundamental laws of statistics, including the law of large numbers, which states that the average of a large number of independent samples will converge to a stable value. In quantum physics, however, this law does not always hold true due to the phenomenon of quantum entanglement, where two particles can become interconnected in a way that affects their behavior even when separated by large distances. Why this is important: This means that the outcomes of quantum experiments can be highly unpredictable and violate the laws of classical statistics. This has implications for fields such as cryptography and quantum computing, where the behavior of quantum particles can be harnessed to perform powerful calculations and secure communications. [Click here to see the full picture!]( [ML Improves Acupuncture Research]( In brief: Researchers are using ML to improve the study design of acupuncture research. Acupuncture has long been a controversial subject due to the lack of rigorous scientific evidence to support its effectiveness. To address this issue, researchers are turning to ML to identify key factors that could impact the effectiveness of acupuncture treatments, such as the location and intensity of the acupuncture points and the duration of the treatment. ML algorithms are also being used to analyse the large amounts of data generated by acupuncture studies to identify patterns and trends that could help improve future study designs. By using this approach, researchers hope to increase the quality and reliability of acupuncture research, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Why this is important: Here at SuperDataScience we’ve become accustomed to seeing ML applied to a wide range of unlikely industries but acupuncture is a new one! Although many are sceptics it has a long history and many evangelical users, applying ML to acupuncture research may just help its effectiveness and lead us to understand it better. [Click here to find out more!]( [Super Data Science podcast]( this week's Super Data Science Podcast, Chief Strategy Officer at Croud and former Sr. Director of Global Strategic Analytics at Google, Avinash Kaushik, joins Jon Krohn live for an exciting episode that covers the transformative power of AI, his 'four clusters of intent' framework and the value of hands-on data tools. [Click here to find out more!]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 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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