Data science is the collection of techniques and skills which help extract meaningful information from huge amounts of raw data. It covers a broad array of tools and techniques that include predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and natural language processing visualization of data, and many more. Its importance is widely recognized within the business world, and its professionals are sought after.
Data science is increasingly used in almost every sector and, in some instances it is an integral part of the strategies and operations of an business. It helps businesses develop more effective marketing campaigns and to better focus their product advertising. It helps in reducing financial risks by identifying fraud and stopping equipment failures in manufacturing and industrial plants. It is also helping to block cyberattacks and other security threats in IT systems.
For instance, the algorithms that track the customers of digital billboards and social media platforms can determine the habits of a person's shoppers. Marketers can then customize their messages to take advantage of this information. This increases the rate of conversion for customers, which leads to a greater ROI for marketers.
In the medical field, the ability to visualize and analyze large volumes of patient data has assisted doctors in developing new treatments and diagnose ailments more accurately. They also can practice preventive medicine, and explore treatment options faster.
However some of the most troubling applications of data science can be a serious ethical risk. According to ProPublica the COMPAS Recidivism Risk score used by many law-enforcement agencies to predict locality sensitive hashing in R future criminal activity could be biased against African-Americans.
