I am a fake DS - I do some data wrangling in SQL, use sklearn library to just pull up a bunch of regressors() to create a shitty model that makes sense from a business standpoint and present the results. Is this really what ML is? How do I become a real ML scientist? What skillsets are needed and how can I acquire those? Insights from real data/ml scientists will be appreciated.
Do you mean I am a real data scientist, and what I do is exactly what data scientists do? Are you a real DS or know some?
Publish papers in ML conferences
Get a masters in CS and then go work as a ML engineer. That’s where the interesting “technical” work is these days (the bar is also much lower compared to a research position at top tech companies). You’ll work alongside the experts and then can go from there.
So it's a 2 years of time investment and a lot of debt. Can I become an ML engineer without a masters in CS, like by just leetcoding? Do online courses help?
Masters in CS is not needed.
+1, you need to get into ML engineering. This is much closer to what you want, more challenging and satisfying.
How do I get there?
If you are solving business problems, what is the issue? If you are interested in doing super rigorous machine learning theory I would suggest academia. The reality is that for most businesses, it doesn’t really matter if your model is basic. If you are making business decisions based on the results, as long as they are directionally accurate, the decision won’t change based on how optimal your model is.
True. I face this everyday. The business teams care about numbers that reasonably make sense. But I am worried my career would be a dead end in a few years if all I do is some basic data cleaning and model building, and yet don't know ML enough. And fake DS get paid really shitty because at the end, we aren't adding much value to an org.
DS doing SQL can be highly paid e.g. DS at FB or AirBnB, but still less than SWE.......Side story, I know many data scientists who did advanced stuff but deliver little impact to the businss Usually, they end up blogging about it instead...
To be a real scientist, you need to do research and create new knowledge in machine learning. So, you probably need a PhD to be trained in how to do research. If your real wish is to get a “scientist” title at some tech company, that’s another story. But still, most of them have phds
PhD is a low ROI education. Let me put it this way - what can I do to be able to do meaningful work while also getting paid high? I would prefer something in DS/ML but if PhD is the only real choice there, then I'll be happy to explore alternative roles.
What’s your background?