Viewpoints

Critical perspectives on the stories, themes, challenges and opportunities shaping data science. In this section: Editors’ blog | Interviews | Newsletter

An image of the cover of the RSS Data Science and Artificial Intelligence

New open access journal - RSS: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
AI
Data Science
Machine learning
Deep learning
Econometrics

The Royal Statistical Society is launching its new fully open access journal, RSS: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence with a remit to publish research on statistics…

Aug 1, 2024

Photo of Julia Lane, professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and visiting fellow at RTI International.

Democratizing Data: Using natural language processing and machine learning to capture dataset usage
AI
Data
Machine learning
Natural language processing

Real World Data Science speaks with Julia Lane, professor at the NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and visiting fellow at RTI International, about an initiative…

Brian Tarran
Mar 11, 2024

Photo of Thank You sign against a backdrop of a city at night.

Editor’s note: Not saying goodbye, just saying…
People
Updates

I’ll be leaving Real World Data Science and the Royal Statistical Society in a month’s time. Before I go, I want to say a big thank you to all the contributors, readers…

Brian Tarran
Mar 6, 2024

Photo of the UK Houses of Parliament at dusk, taken from across the River Thames.

£10m for UK regulators to ‘jumpstart’ AI capabilities, as government commits to white paper approach
AI
Large language models
Public policy
Risk
Regulation

It’s been a busy seven days for AI news in the UK as two major government reports were published, millions of pounds of new investments were announced, and warnings rang out…

Brian Tarran
Feb 8, 2024

Long exposure photo of the UK Houses of Parliament and Portcullis House, taken from across the River Thames.

UK government sets out 10 principles for use of generative AI
AI ethics
Large language models
Monitoring
Public policy
Risk

Government says staff need to understand what generative AI is, its limitations, and how to deploy the technology lawfully, ethically and securely.

Brian Tarran
Jan 22, 2024

Photo of Japanese cherry blossom, or sakura, against a blue background. Photo by AJ on Unsplash.

When will the cherry trees bloom? Get ready to make and share your predictions!
Coding
Prediction
Reproducible research
Statistics

The 2024 International Cherry Blossom Prediction Competition will open for entries on February 1. There’s cash and prizes on offer for the best entries, including having…

Brian Tarran
Jan 18, 2024

Official photograph of US Census Bureau director Robert Santos, with US flag in background.

‘We absolutely have to transform and modernise our operation’ – US Census Bureau director Robert Santos
Data
Data privacy
Data literacy
Education
Public engagement
AI

Edited highlights from an interview conducted last summer with US Census Bureau director Robert Santos and colleagues, touching on pandemic challenges, the growing use of…

Brian Tarran (with Anna Britten)
Jan 15, 2024

Still from posit::conf(2023) talk, splitscreen view. On the left screen is Real World Data Science editor Brian Tarran presenting; on the right screen is a screengrab of the Quarto webpage, with the words GitHub Pages circled in red.

Creating a web publication with Quarto: the Real World Data Science origin story
Coding
Communication
Events
Communities
Open source

This is the story of how a Royal Statistical Society editor discovered an open source publishing system called Quarto, learned how to code (a bit), and built an online…

Brian Tarran
Jan 3, 2024

Photo of national statistician Professor Sir Ian Diamond, standing, with microphone, during a talk.

‘I was pretty clear in my mind that we were into a no-going-back situation’
Data
People
Innovation
Data literacy
Public engagement

Real World Data Science interviews UK national statistician Professor Sir Ian Diamond about culture change and innovation in the national statistical system post-Covid…

Brian Tarran
Dec 15, 2023

Purple square with white snowflakes and green tree in foreground. Tree is decorated with red and gold baubles of various sizes.

A Christmas card in R for the Real World Data Science community
R
Data visualisation
Updates

Inspired by Nicola Rennie’s excellent tutorial on making Christmas cards with R, we’ve had a go at putting together our own design – especially for you, the wonderful…

Brian Tarran
Dec 12, 2023

Black computer screen showing a folder icon, with the numbers 2023 being typed out below.

AI and digital ethics in 2023: a ‘remarkable, eventful year’
AI
Large language models
Ethics
Regulation
Risk

At techUK’s Digital Ethics Summit, experts looked back on a year in which AI chatbots dominated debates, helped shape legislative agendas, and opened our eyes to the dangers…

Brian Tarran
Dec 8, 2023

An image of multiple 3D shapes representing speech bubbles in a sequence, with broken up fragments of text within them.

Evaluating artificial intelligence: How data science and statistics can make sense of AI models
AI
Large language models
Accountability
Regulation
Metrics
Events

How can we help organisations to deploy AI in a responsible way? Why have evaluation metrics trailed behind advances in AI technology? And, are data inputs receiving the…

Brian Tarran
Dec 6, 2023

Portrait photo of Andrea Saltelli, co-editor of 'The Politics of Modelling.'

‘I would like modellers to be less ambitious in developing monster models that are impossible to inspect’
Modelling
Public policy

Real World Data Science interviews Andrea Saltelli, co-editor of ‘The Politics of Modelling,’ about pandemic models, trust in science, and why we must seek to uncover the…

Brian Tarran
Nov 24, 2023

Screengrab of RSS Conference panel members showing, left to right, Peter Wells, Maxine Setiawan, Sophie Carr, Chris Nemeth, and Karen Tingay.

How data science and statistics can shape the UK’s AI strategy
AI
Large language models
Events

At the Royal Statistical Society Conference this September, Real World Data Science brought together data scientists, statisticians, and policy experts to discuss the urgent…

Brian Tarran
Oct 30, 2023

Portrait photo of Andrew Garrett, president of the Royal Statistical Society.

‘Statistics and data science are at the heart of the AI movement – we want to be a strong voice in the debate’
AI
Events
Algorithms
Risk

Royal Statistical Society president Andrew Garrett talks AI model evaluation and risk, and why training data and model inputs deserve greater attention in discussions over…

Brian Tarran
Oct 25, 2023

Wall stencilled with the phrase '# Leave no one behind'.

An AI for humanity
AI
Open source

Public funding is needed for an ‘AI for humanity’ project, modelled on the Human Genome Project, argues Martin Goodson. How else can we ensure the benefits of AI are spread…

Martin Goodson
Oct 20, 2023

Photo of Helen Miller-Bakewell.

‘Feelings about sharing data can be context and time dependent – you can’t just do one survey or focus group’
Data sharing
Data linkage
Public engagement

Real World Data Science sits down with Helen Miller-Bakewell of the UK Office for Statistics Regulation to talk data sharing and linkage in government – progress made…

Brian Tarran
Oct 16, 2023

Halloween characters chatting over coffee at a professional conference focused on data science, digital art created by Bing Image Creator.

Join Real World Data Science at three events this October!
AI
Large language models
Communities
Events
Updates

An introduction to Real World Data Science as part of RSS Members’ Week; a keynote talk at the NHS-R Community Annual Conference; and a panel debate on AI evaluation…

Brian Tarran
Oct 10, 2023

Two laptops connecting directly and becoming super charged, with a range of data visualisations in the background, comic book style. Created by Bing Image Creator.

American Statistical Association joins Real World Data Science as partner
News
Updates
Call for contributions

We’re thrilled to have ASA on board as a Real World Data Science partner and look forward to working with ASA members, groups and sections to further grow and develop the…

Brian Tarran
Oct 2, 2023

Chicago Theatre sign, illuminated at night.

Live from Chicago: Real World Data Science at posit::conf(2023)
Conferences
Events

This year’s posit::conf has come to a close, and we had a great time in Chicago learning about data science software, ideas, and applications. Read on for key takeaways from…

Brian Tarran
Sep 27, 2023

R-Girls logo layered on top of a classroom scene, rendered in bright pastel colours, created by Bing Image Creator.

‘What if we try to bring R to the classroom? That was our wacky idea’
R
Education
Outreach

R-Girls is a new project aiming to introduce R into secondary school lessons – just not through computer science classes! Real World Data Science meets with one of the…

Brian Tarran
Sep 25, 2023

A collection of data, viewed through a distorted lens, digital art, created by Bing Image Creator.

‘Pseudo data science’ and other pitfalls: lessons from the UK’s stats regulator on how not to be misleading
Communication
Leadership
Transparency

In organisations, data scientists are not the only players who get to influence how data and data science are presented and used – so they need to be on their guard for…

Ed Humpherson
Sep 18, 2023

A small figurine of an oktokata in the center, in the background a laptop with an open code editor and a terminal.

Contributors: check out the new Real World Data Science template repo on GitHub
Call for contributions
Tools
Updates

The ‘RWDS_post_template’ repository, created by Finn-Ole Höner, demonstrates various Quarto features and helps site contributors to create content using our house style and…

Brian Tarran
Sep 12, 2023

A photographic rendering of a young black man standing in front of a cloudy blue sky, seen through a refractive glass grid and overlaid with a diagram of a neural network.

For minorities, biased AI algorithms can damage almost every part of life
AI
AI ethics
Bias
Ethics

In his new book, ‘Is Artificial Intelligence Racist?’, Arshin Adib-Moghaddam explores the relationship between various forms of racism and sexism and artificial…

Arshin Adib-Moghaddam
Sep 6, 2023

Exterior photo of the Harrogate Convention Centre.

RSS Conference preview: Evaluating AI, machine learning, and data visualisation
AI
Machine learning
Data visualisation
Events

Heading to RSS Conference in Harrogate this September? Here’s a selection of sessions to add to your schedule.

Brian Tarran
Aug 24, 2023

Photo shows people passing in front of Sega store in Japan, with Sega logo overhead. Photo by Jezael Melgoza on Unsplash.

Where do AI, data science, and computer games intersect?
Events
Video games
Education

Alice-Maria Toader and Liam Brierley report on two recent talks that explore the role of AI and data science in video game development.

Alice-Maria Toader and Liam Brierley
Aug 17, 2023

Google logo on top of building, against a blue sky.

Live from Toronto: Real World Data Science at the Joint Statistical Meetings
Conferences
Events

We’re in Toronto for this year’s Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM). Over the next few days, we’ll be sharing key takeaways from a selection of talks and sessions. Check back…

Brian Tarran
Aug 15, 2023

Portrait photo of Alberto Cairo by JCA Photography

The many ‘dialects’ of data visualization: Alberto Cairo and ‘The Art of Insight’
Data visualisation
Communication

In his upcoming new book, journalist and designer Alberto Cairo explores the idea of ‘data visualization as language’, one with many different dialects – statistical…

Brian Tarran
Aug 1, 2023

A photo of children listening to teacher in class, taken from a child's perspective.

‘Go out and talk about data science, particularly to schoolchildren’
Education
Data literacy
Outreach

Open University professor Rachel Hilliam calls for data science outreach in schools, to build skills pipeline and plug gaps: ’There is absolutely no reason why we can’t…

Brian Tarran
Jul 27, 2023

Person sitting in front of a screen of code.

Testing out ChatGPT’s new Code Interpreter
AI
Large language models
Coding
Data analysis

OpenAI’s latest plugin turns ChatGPT into a tool for data cleaning, preprocessing, analysis, visualisation and predictive modelling tasks, among other things. Some have…

Lee Clewley
Jul 19, 2023

An aerial view of London and the River Thames, taken from The Shard, London, United Kingdom.

Teaching a chatbot about love, and other adventures from London Data Week
AI
Open source
Accountability
Public opinion

Our editor shares his personal highlights from the first ever London Data Week, including an art exhibition about AI, a panel discussion on the benefits of open source, and…

Brian Tarran
Jul 7, 2023

A young girl holds the hand of a robot on display at the Kuromon Market in Osaka. Photo by Andy Kelly on Unsplash.

How do people feel about AI? Well, it’s complicated
AI
Accountability
Regulation
Public opinion

A new survey from the Ada Lovelace Institute and the Alan Turing Institute finds broadly positive views towards AI use cases in healthcare and border security, among others…

Brian Tarran
Jun 13, 2023

Photo of London at night, with Big Ben clock tower towering over the city. Photo by Arthur Yao on Unsplash.

London Data Week is almost here. What’s it all about?
Data
Innovation
Events
Communities

The first ever London Data Week runs from 3–9 July 2023. Real World Data Science meets with organisers Sam Nutt and Jennifer Ding to hear about their vision and plans for…

Brian Tarran
Jun 8, 2023

A photographic rendering of a smiling face emoji seen through a refractive glass grid, overlaid with a diagram of a neural network.

No, AI probably won’t kill us all – and there’s more to this fear campaign than meets the eye
AI
Large language models
Regulation

Last week, outlets around the world were plastered with news of yet another open letter claiming AI poses an existential threat to humankind. Michael Timothy Bennett argues…

Michael Timothy Bennett
Jun 5, 2023

Looking to distant landscape through binoculars, digital art. Image created by Bing Image Creator.

What’s the future of data science and AI in an LLM world?
Large language models
Skills
Tools
Ethics
People

Osama Rahman, director of the Data Science Campus at the UK Office for National Statistics, shared his thoughts on the past, present, and future of data science at an event…

Brian Tarran
May 26, 2023

Photo of Stephanie Hare by Mitzi de Margary. Photo supplied by Stephanie Hare, used with permission.

‘I’m way more into prevention than cure’: Stephanie Hare on why we need a culture of technology ethics
Technology ethics
AI ethics
Culture
Regulation

Stephanie Hare, author of ‘Technology is Not Neutral’, talks to Real World Data Science about the ‘wicked problem’ of technology and AI ethics, and why laws and regulations…

Brian Tarran
Apr 28, 2023

An illustration of a colorful rainbow, with each band of the rainbow featuring a selection of numbers to represent data. Image created by Bing Image Creator.

Data science as ‘a rainbow’, and other definitions
Updates
Themes
People

Data science means different things to different people. Former RSS president Sylvia Richardson has described it as ‘a rainbow of interconnected disciplines’. What’s your…

Brian Tarran
Mar 29, 2023

A teacher is marking homework and trying to decide whether a written piece of text has been created by a student or by a large language model, digital art. Created by DALL·E, prompt by Real World Data Science.

OpenAI’s text classifier won’t calm fears about AI-written homework
AI
Large language models
Classifiers
Screening tests

Educators are worried about ChatGPT being used by students for homework assignments, so OpenAI has released a tool to classify whether text is human- or AI-written. But…

Brian Tarran
Mar 15, 2023

Bikers in front of the United States Capitol in Washington DC. Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash.

US legislators get their data science act together
Data science education
Data literacy
Policy

A bill introduced in the US Congress wants to make funds available to develop data science and data literacy education across the United States. We sit down with education…

Brian Tarran
Mar 6, 2023

Woman painting while wearing virtual reality headset. Photo by Billetto Editorial on Unsplash.

Data science can help close the ‘digital skills’ gap, or so it seems
Skills
Training
AI
Machine learning
Data analytics

A ‘digital skills’ gap is harming employer productivity and growth, according to a survey by engineering body IET. But the ‘digital skills’ that are needed sound a lot like…

Brian Tarran
Feb 14, 2023

Photo of Heidi Seibold

Why open science is ‘just good science in a digital era’
Open science
Reproducible research

Real World Data Science speaks with statistician and data scientist Heidi Seibold about open science: what it means, the benefits of it, and how to move towards it.

Brian Tarran
Feb 3, 2023

Photo of Detlef Nauck

ChatGPT can hold a conversation, but lacks knowledge representation and original sources for verification
Machine learning
Large language models
AI

ChatGPT represents a next step in the evolution of large language models, says Detlef Nauck. However, there are still major challenges - and concerns - to overcome.

Brian Tarran
Jan 27, 2023

Photo of Erica Thompson

How to ‘Escape from Model Land’: an interview with Erica Thompson
Modelling
Ethics

Author Erica Thompson talks to Real World Data Science about the ‘social element’ of mathematical modelling, how it manifests, and what to do about it.

Brian Tarran
Jan 25, 2023

Flyer for RSS International Conference 2023, for all statisticians and data scientists. Taking place in Harrogate, 4-7 September 2023.

We’re taking Real World Data Science on the road
Updates
Events

Join us at the RSS International Conference 2023 in Harrogate, 4-7 September.

Brian Tarran
Jan 18, 2023

Photo of an email app on a mobile device screen, showing 2 unread notifications. Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.

Explore the RSS Data Science & AI Section newsletter, right here!
Updates
Newsletters

We’re starting the year with a new addition to the site: a page dedicated to the excellent RSS Data Science & AI Section newsletter.

Brian Tarran
Jan 5, 2023

DataScienceBites logo. A dark grey circle with bite marks cut out. Overlaid text says, Import grad_students as writers, import new_research_papers as nrp, print(writers + nrp) and the title DataScienceBites.

Sink your teeth into some data science papers with our brand new blog
Updates
Content ideas
Call for contributions

Today we’re launching DataScienceBites – a new member of the ScienceBites family – offering bite-sized summaries of data science papers.

Brian Tarran
Dec 13, 2022

An image created by the Stable Diffusion 2.1 Demo. The model was asked to produce an image with the prompt, 'Text from an old book cut up like a jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing'.

LLMs in the news: hype, tripe, and everything in between
Machine learning
Large language models
AI

We’re back discussing large language models after two weeks of ‘breakthrough’ announcements, excitable headlines, and some all-too-familiar ethical concerns.

Brian Tarran
Dec 9, 2022

A screenshot of an exchange between Real World Data Science editor Brian Tarran and ChatGPT.

A chat with ChatGPT
Machine learning
Large language models
AI

’Hello there! I’m a large language model trained by OpenAI, so I don’t have the ability to experience emotions or have a physical presence. I’m here to provide information…

Brian Tarran
Dec 9, 2022

A photo of a black stencilled number 4 on a white brick wall. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash.

Four themes for potential contributors to think about
Updates
Themes
Content ideas

Can data science save the world? What is a data scientist? What statistical ideas do data scientists need to know? And, what’s happening in the world of data science?

Brian Tarran
Dec 1, 2022

A black keyboard at the bottom of the picture has an open book on it, with red words in labels floating on top, with a letter A balanced on top of them. The perspective makes the composition form a kind of triangle from the keyboard to the capital A. The AI filter makes it look like a messy, with a kind of cartoon style.

Why large language models should come with a content warning
Machine learning
Large language models
AI

The outputs of LLMs seem impressive, but users need to be wary of possible bias, plagiarism and model ‘hallucinations’.

Brian Tarran
Nov 23, 2022

Portrait photos of 12 members of the Real World Data Science Editorial team

Meet the team
People
Biographies

Introducing the editors of Real World Data Science.

Editorial Board
Oct 18, 2022
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