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Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

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Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#11

Post by foolrush »

OldHand2018 wrote: post #9

The hype was that you could take a huge pile of data and turn it into hugely valuable insights. The realization is that any random pile of data likely doesn't have anything in it that is worth paying for: Here's our analysis! We already do/knew that. Some people have really good, valuable data sets. Most people don't.

It’s an epistemology / ontology question, as folks familiar with the humanities would spot in little time. Aka it’s not “data” until something empowers the created metric a meaning.

The map is not the territory.

https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Data-Oxymoron-Infrastructures/dp/...

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#12

Post by bravura »

foolrush wrote: post #11
OldHand2018 wrote: post #9

The hype was that you could take a huge pile of data and turn it into hugely valuable insights. The realization is that any random pile of data likely doesn't have anything in it that is worth paying for: Here's our analysis! We already do/knew that. Some people have really good, valuable data sets. Most people don't.

It’s an epistemology / ontology question, as folks familiar with the humanities would spot in little time. Aka it’s not “data” until something empowers the created metric a meaning. The map is not the territory. https://www.amazon.com/Raw-Data-Oxymoron-Infrastructures/dp/...

I know what all those words mean, I've studied critical theory, and I have no idea what your point is.

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#13

Post by wayoutthere »

lame88 wrote: post #8

There's a lot of hype in software. Just like you were hearing about Blockchain startups only when Bitcoin started trading at 5 bazillion USD and now you don't hear nearly as much about it. During 2008-2015ish we went through an insane churn of new JavaScript frameworks and NoSQL database hype. Yeah it seems to have calmed, but I don't think data science was just hype because it comes from (and somewhat is) probabilit…

Most of what we call “data science” is repackaged “data mining” — a skill that goes easily back to the mid-90s. Sure, open source tooling makes it all a lot more accessible today; but IBM / Oracle / etc. have offered similar packages (at MUCH higher price points, of course) for decades.

I think once the hype calmed down, people started to realize that it was largely the same old shit in a much cheaper package — evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Ultimately I think the hype cycle was driven by Moore’s Law more than anything; the fact you could run this type of analysis in a manageable amount of time without needing a huge IBM mainframe was the real innovation.

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#14

Post by ddragon »

"AI" (or whatever rebranding it gets) always works in cycles, with a phase of excitement and overpromising followed by a phase of apparent underdelivering and skepticism. But what actually happens is that the innovations just become part of the normal tooling, and stop being called "AI".

At some point there is no need to hire a "data scientist", as any python programmer is already expected to know how to use numpy, pandas, sklearn and keras, just like before it was already expected for them to do any kind of data manipulation with SQL without requiring a dedicated database expert.

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#15

Post by cedricd »

At my previous company data science has become synonymous with data analysis, to the point that the number of data scientists on staff is starting to outnumber data analysts. I think it's more a sign of a maturing field than anything else. The more narrow view of data science as big data, models, and machine learning is probably less a thing now, but data analysis overall is only getting bigger.

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#16

Post by amelius »

lame88 wrote: post #8

There's a lot of hype in software. Just like you were hearing about Blockchain startups only when Bitcoin started trading at 5 bazillion USD and now you don't hear nearly as much about it. During 2008-2015ish we went through an insane churn of new JavaScript frameworks and NoSQL database hype. Yeah it seems to have calmed, but I don't think data science was just hype because it comes from (and somewhat is) probabilit…

What might be a good indicator: is "data science" taught in major universities?

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#18

Post by mxwsn »

amelius wrote: post #16
lame88 wrote: post #8

There's a lot of hype in software. Just like you were hearing about Blockchain startups only when Bitcoin started trading at 5 bazillion USD and now you don't hear nearly as much about it. During 2008-2015ish we went through an insane churn of new JavaScript frameworks and NoSQL database hype. Yeah it seems to have calmed, but I don't think data science was just hype because it comes from (and somewhat is) probabilit…

What might be a good indicator: is "data science" taught in major universities?

UC Berkeley has an undergraduate data science major. The choices and bureaucracy of creating new majors is also prone to hype though, so it might not be the best indicator.

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#19

Post by Ntrails »

tictacttoe wrote: post #6

I think what companies really want is smart generalists with advanced math, programming, and modeling skills coupled with domain knowledge. That skill set will always carry high value in technical companies. The reason it carries value is the skills are difficult to acquire. I think the recent decline in interest reflects the rise of new data science candidates that are taking the path of least resistance to a career…

I am wary when people wax lyrical about all of the ways they love using machine learning on data. It makes me nervous because i worry that they have a hammer and can't wait to use it on anything vaguely nail shaped.

Re: Ask HN: Was data science just hype?

#20

Post by nemild »

lame88 wrote: post #8

There's a lot of hype in software. Just like you were hearing about Blockchain startups only when Bitcoin started trading at 5 bazillion USD and now you don't hear nearly as much about it. During 2008-2015ish we went through an insane churn of new JavaScript frameworks and NoSQL database hype. Yeah it seems to have calmed, but I don't think data science was just hype because it comes from (and somewhat is) probabilit…

That hype in software is the reason I wrote a media literacy guide for software engineers. Hype makes it easy to get free marketing and also drives clicks for media and social networks.

https://github.com/nemild/hack-the-media/blob/master/softwar...

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