Data Morgana Risks and Limitations of Data Science

Data Morgana: Risks and Limitations of Data Science

Date: Time: 16:00 Location: Online via Zoom

Data Morgana is a short lecture series, divided into four parts, about the promises, hype, and misconceptions surrounding data science. Join us at this third session, where we look at possible dangers and limitations of data science. (English / SG-Certificate*)

Time: 16:00-16:45 hrs. 

Data Morgana

Data is the new gold! Does that mean data scientists are the new alchemists? In this short lecture series, we discuss the role of data science in general scientific practice, and in our global society. We look beyond the hype, beyond the mirage of unlimited promises and beyond hollow buzzwords. What have we accomplished with data science; what has it cost us; and what can we actually expect from it in the future? In this third session, our focus is on the Risks and Limitations of Data Science.

Time to call the bullshit?

It is not much of a shocking statement to say that we are living in a data-driven society. Data science however, and machine learning in particular, can be overly simplistic and sometimes used without sufficient discrimination. This is natural: throwing more data at a simplistic algorithm is easier to get done than rethinking the algorithm or re-collecting better data, so the status quo is the result of taking the path of the least resistance. Perhaps now is the time to turn the tide though, and reconsider the way we are applying data science methods. Skepticism is necessary to distinguish valid from invalid work in data mining and machine learning, particularly when the results of the work would have ethical implications. In this session, we'll visit methodological problems which challenge data science right now, from data selection bias, to simplistic learning algorithms which may draw the wrong conclusion, and to the misinterpretation of machine-learning results.

Speaker

Dr. Doina Bucur is an Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the University of Twente, and part of the faculty's Ethics Committee. She completed her PhD in Computer Science at the University of Aarhus in 2008, after which she worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Oxford University. She works with data which describes how societies of humans (or animals, or objects) link and interact with each other, either on online social networks, or in real life. This is with the aim to understand, and sometimes improve, these societies.

Doina Bucur (Studium Generale)

Our other Data Morgana sessions

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The Data Morgana sessions are organized by Studium Generale, SV Flow and DSA Pattern.

More information

Contact: Oskar Knötschke (Studium Generale).

* For students, this event may count towards the SG-Certificate. Check the SG-Certificate website for all the terms and conditions.

  

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