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With significant ASA membership coming from industry, the Caucus of Industry Representatives seeks to provide a forum for surfacing issues related to industry statisticians and data scientists, as well as to facilitate interaction between industry leaders in much the same way as the Caucus of Academic Representatives serves the academic community. See what the caucus has accomplished in its first year.
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Cover Story »
This fall’s release of the 2022 degree completion data from the National Center for Education Statistics is marked by the large increases in the undergraduate and master’s degrees awarded in the recently introduced categories for data analytics and data science. The number of bachelor’s degrees in data science, for example, jumped to 897 in 2022, from 165 in 2021 and 84 in 2020. For bachelor’s degrees in data analytics, the 2020, 2021, and 2022 numbers are 325, 455, and 767, respectively.
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Artificial Intelligence, Cover Story »
In the first half of 2023, the machine learning programs ChatGPT and GPT-4 changed the landscape of artificial intelligence research seemingly overnight. Judea Pearl’s research bridges the subjects of statistics and artificial intelligence and highlights the importance of causality in both settings. Dana Mackenzie, Pearl’s co-author for The Book of Why, interviews him here to get his take on recent developments. When they wrote their book in 2018, Pearl contended machine learning had not yet moved past the first rung of the “ladder of causation.” Computers could not correctly answer queries about interventions and still less about counterfactual scenarios. Has his assessment changed?
Cover Story, Education »
Cover Story »
The ASA recently announced the election of Ji-Hyun Lee as its 120th president. Her term begins January 1, 2025, with a one-year term as president-elect beginning January 1, 2024.
As ASA president, Lee will focus on increasing the statistical community’s visibility and impact, enhancing opportunities to support the evolving needs of the statistical profession, and diversifying membership. Her priority will be to build strong bridges—both within and outside the ASA community—to strengthen the association and seize opportunities in this data-driven era. She noted, “Collaboration with others has always been the most fulfilling aspect of my career and personal life.”