Although the debate between Frequentist and Bayesian statisticians sometimes takes a more comical turn (XKCD strip), it is still important for a data scientist to know a few things about Bayesian Stats. Of course, purists of the craft will argue that Frequentist Stats will suffice but if you want to stand out of the crowd, it would definitely help going beyond the beaten path, when it comes to data analytics know-how.

This video I made recently highlights the key elements of Bayesian Stats, focusing on the concepts that although fairly straight-forward, may be obscure to the newcomer. Also, without disregarding the invaluable contribution of Frequentist Stats to data science, this video explores how the two differ and how Bayesian Stats has a lot in common with other, more modern, data analytics frameworks. Check it out when you get the chance!

Note that a subscription to the Safari platform is necessary in order to view the video in its entirety.

This week I'm away, as I prepare for my talk at the Consumer Identity World EU 2018 conference in Amsterdam (the same conference takes place in a couple of other places, but I'll be attending just the one in Europe). So, if you are in the Dutch capital, feel free to check it out. More information on my talk here. Cheers!

I've been writing a lot about A.I. lately and AGI has been a recurring topic lately. Although the possibility of this technology becoming a reality is still a bit futuristic, we can still ponder on the possibility and explore how such an A.I. system would affect us. Hence this fiction book I wrote in the past few months and published this week on Amazon (Kindle version only). Feel free to check it out when you have a minute.

The book is dedicated to researchers of A.I. Safety.

Although lately I've been writing about the infeasibility of AGI in our current time and how an AGI can pose great threats, it is still useful to consider what would happen if an AGI actually existed and how it would see and interact with our world. Hence this novel, which through the first-person perspective of an AGI system, explores how the advent of such a technology could have noticeable consequences to our world, transcending even its creator's expectations. After all, the difference between an AGI with our level of intelligence and a super-intelligent AGI is not as large, though for the purpose of the  plot of this novel, it has been shown to take place over a period of several months.

In any case, if you are into science fiction and wish to contemplate on the matter of AGI and A.I. Safety, this novel may be for you. Feel free to check it out on Amazon (currently only in Kindle format). Thanks!

Interestingly, the video throughput on Safari has increased lately so we don't have to wait too long before a video gets approved and published. This little guy, for example, I just finished on Thursday and it's already online at the Safari platform. It's by no means an exhaustive survey of the ML field, which is much larger than many people think and it doesn't include A.I. methods only. This video is more of an overview of ML and how it relates to other aspects of Data Science, such as Statistics, A.I., and various applications. So, if you are new to Data Science or want to get a comprehensive overview of the topic to supplement your studies of the subject, feel free to check it out!

Recently an associate of mine and I have started a blog on Medium, focusing on A.I. related topics. There are no articles on it at the moment, but we are actively looking for potential authors of such articles. Every author can have a short bio of him/her and a link to their site of choice (e.g. their company’s site, their own blog, or even an online professional profile of his/hers).

Right now, we don’t have very restrictive requirements regarding the articles, so anything that is related to A.I. (especially its applications and its real-world impact on fields like data science or robotics) qualifies. Also, there is no word restriction so if you want to write a whole mini-book on this blog, you can be our guest!

If you are interested, feel free to let us know either through the comments below, or via a direct email to me (you can use the contact form at the corresponding page of the Foxy Data Science site). Cheers!

So, about 18 months ago I created a video on Safari about how A.I. could benefit Data Science (DS and AI). Even though at that time I was still figuring things out regarding how educational videos work, the vid was immensely popular and even today still attracts lots of views. Considering that all of my recent videos are (much) better than that one, at least technically, this is quite intriguing.

Anyway, fast forward to September last year. As I was walking in the streets of suburban Seattle, thinking about what to do next (my Data Science Mindset, Methodologies, and Misconceptions book had just been released), I decided to write another book, one about A.I. since this topic continued to fascinate me, while it was becoming a popular topic among various data scientists. So, I pitched the idea of a new book to Steve Hoberman and after sorting out the details, we got a contract going. However, due to various reasons we decided to start the book in January.

The whole project was quite a turbulent one, with my co-author dropping out around March, leaving me in a very difficult situation. Yet, I decided that the book was worth completing. Fortunately, another data scientist / A.I. expert decided to join me in this endeavor, Yunus E. Bulut, who I got acquainted with through Thinkful. Long story short, after a few discussions about the project he had a contract of his own as a co-author.

Three months later, the first draft was complete. Of course the book went through a lot of revisions since then, partly because the technology was changing and partly because there were a lot of topics in this book, which was difficult to coordinate and merge into a coherent whole. Also, at one point Julia reached adulthood as a programming language (v. 1.0) so we had to update the code for the chapters that had programs in Julia.

So, after a feverish summer, plagued by heat waves and other obstacles, we finished the edits (at least the most important ones, since a book is never really finished!) and the book went to the press. Now, it is finally available for you to buy at whatever vendor you prefer. Check out the publisher's site for more details. Cheers!

So, recently I decided to make a couple of videos on niche topics, namely the Business Aspect of A.I. in Data Science and  Extreme Learning Machines (ELMs). These vids are now available on Safari (here and here). Enjoy!

Note that in order to view these vids in their entirety you'll need a subscription to the platform. The latter enables you to view other materials, including a large variety of technical books as well as all my other videos. Cheers!

Last week I’ve finished my part of the final corrections stage of the new technical book I’d been working on for the past few months. My co-author, Yunus, has done the same, so the book should be in the press later this month! Hopefully, you should be able to purchase it soon, either from the publisher’s site, or from some other vendor (e.g. Amazon). Just wanted to share that with you all. Once the book is out there, I’ll be sure to make an announcement about it here on this blog. Cheers!

As a famous Chinese sage once said, "a car is more than the sum of its parts." It's intriguing how this applies not just to ancient vehicles in the Orient, but also to a special kind of data science models called ensembles. So, if you want to learn more about this fascinating topic and how it is useful in a data science setting, check out my latest video on the Safari platform.

Note that you will need a subscription to the Safari system in order to view this vid in its entirety. However, with such a subscription you'd be able to access a lot of other material on a variety of technical topics, including all my other videos. Cheers!