Radical empiricism and machine learning research

I contrast the “data fitting” vs “data interpreting” approaches to data science along three dimensions: Expediency, Transparency, and Explainability. “Data fitting” is driven by the faith that the secret to rational decisions lies in the data itself. In contrast, the data-interpreting school views d...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pearl Judea
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2021-05-01
Series:Journal of Causal Inference
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/jci-2021-0006
Description
Summary:I contrast the “data fitting” vs “data interpreting” approaches to data science along three dimensions: Expediency, Transparency, and Explainability. “Data fitting” is driven by the faith that the secret to rational decisions lies in the data itself. In contrast, the data-interpreting school views data, not as a sole source of knowledge but as an auxiliary means for interpreting reality, and “reality” stands for the processes that generate the data. I argue for restoring balance to data science through a task-dependent symbiosis of fitting and interpreting, guided by the Logic of Causation.
ISSN:2193-3685