From Logic Magazine:
A long conversation with a veteran data scientist on AI, deep learning, FinTech, and the future.
We’re constantly inundated with stories about how data science,
machine learning, deep learning, and artificial intelligence are
revolutionizing everything. But what do these terms even mean? And are
they likely to have anywhere near the impact that the media hype would
lead us to believe?
We sat down with a veteran data scientist to help us answer these
questions. Over beer and Chinese food, we spent hours discussing a wide
array of subjects, ranging from neural networks to algorithmic racism.
Later, when we transcribed and edited our conversation, we
realized we had way more than we needed for a single piece. So we broke
our conversation into four installments, each organized around a
different theme—“Introduction,” “Deep Learning,” “FinTech,” and “The
Future”—and decided to distribute them throughout the issue. For the web
version, we've included each of those installments below.
This interview was conducted in November 2016.
LOGIC: Alright, let’s get started with the basics. What is a data scientist? Do you self-identify as one?
DATA SCIENTIST: I would say the people who are the
most confident about self-identifying as data scientists are almost
unilaterally frauds. They are not people that you would voluntarily
spend a lot of time with....MUCH MORE
The last thing I read that slipped so smoothly into gear was:
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Four shots ripped into my groin, and I was off
on the biggest adventure of my life … But first let me tell you a little about myself....
-Max Shulman Sleep Till Noon (Doubleday, 1950)
