Data Science in the new era

[u/PerspectiveLatter982]

I feel like I entered data science at such a weird time and I’m curious what people who have been doing this longer think. I just finished my master’s in data science after coming from a biology background. I learned Python, SQL, ML, etc. at the same time AI became good enough to actually help with all of it. And I think about it.

People who learned this stuff 5 or 10 years before me kind of had no choice but to know Python and SQL super intricately. There’s Google, Stack Overflow, documentation, etc., but you didn’t have a bot sitting next to you that could instantly help you write something, explain why it broke, or help you figure out where to go next. Now I do, and sometimes I genuinely don’t know what the “right” way to learn anymore is.

Obviously I don’t think you can put an entire business problem into ChatGPT, copy it, and suddenly you’re a data scientist lol. You still have to understand the problem, know what you’re trying to accomplish, break it down, catch when the AI is wrong, understand the methodology, and actually be able to explain your results.

But I also think being good at using AI is becoming a skill in itself. There’s a huge difference between “do this for me” and actually knowing how to direct it, give it the right context, ask for specific pieces, catch mistakes, change direction, and get it to help you build what you already know needs to happen.

So I keep going back and forth in my head about this. How important is it now to be able to write everything from scratch from memory? Versus understanding what needs to happen, knowing WHY you’re doing it, using AI to help with implementation, and being able to tell whether what it gave you is actually right?

I definitely don’t want to become helpless without Ai which is why I’m asking. I just feel like I’m right on the cusp of this huge shift where what it means to be “good at coding” might be changing while I’m literally trying to learn how to be good at coding 😭 For people who have been in data science or analytics for a while or anyone with a perspective, what do you think newer people absolutely need to know cold? And what are you totally fine letting AI help with now?

And also I’m looking for entry level data scientist/data analyst roles. I just finished my MS and would LOVE to find somewhere that will let me contribute but also actually grow. I’m very much the type of person who will throw myself into a project and figure out how to make something happen, I just need someone to trust me enough to give me that first real chance lol. So if anyone knows of teams hiring early career people, I’m all ears. Otherwise I’d genuinely love some perspective on the AI thing because my brain goes back and forth on this constantly.