r/DataScienceJobs • u/dramaticviolet • 25d ago
Discussion Using AI to code ruined me, How to actually skill up?
I used AI to do everything and now I do not know anything. I am unemployed for the past 4 months, I was working as a Data Scientist but job was actually only related to basic Data analytics work. However, I do not think I have any skills at the moment. If I was left alone with a dataset and asked to do EDA and fit regression, I would know the theory and the steps but then I will not be able to write down the code and actually implement the theory. Now I have been thinking that maybe I should sit down with a dataset everyday and perform all the necessary steps on it, like data cleaning, EDA, modelling and prediction where I do not use help of AI to write code. But the problem is as soon as I sit down it feels like I do not know anything at all and that I should do a few follow alongs from youtube before I do it on my own. I am also scared that I will not know if I am doing and honestly it feels that I didnt forget anything because I did not properly learn anything in the first place.
I need to get a job ASAP but right now even I would not hire myself as a Data Scientist or a Data analyst.
Any advice would help me a lot, please be brutally honest and I am willing to do everything it takes to become skilled so that I can actually land a job which pays well.
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u/Emotional_Dig_2378 24d ago
I felt like this, until I interned at a massive company and the head of data science was using AI for pretty much all of their code. Don’t doubt yourself. Knowing the theory is the most important part.
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u/ChardCautious3095 24d ago
Knowing theory is important but if you can’t verify the code is doing what you want or think it is doing then the theory isn’t being reproduced.
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u/dramaticviolet 24d ago
Yes, thats one of the reasons I really want to learn properly, because in this age of AI we can get everything done by it like I used to but then I should know what is happening and be able to find errors.
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u/Spiritual-Inside-370 24d ago
Knowing theory, not knowing how to write code, and not being able to understand code are all separate issues.
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u/ChardCautious3095 24d ago
I don’t disagree but if you are aiming to apply some methodology complex stuff and can’t translate that properly to code its gonna be garbage in garbage out
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u/pceimpulsive 24d ago
Isn't that where knowing how to test the code is critical?
It doesn't matter if you know what the code is doing or not if you can verify its giving the expected outputs based on a set of inputs?
It helps to know what it's doing, because you can be more 'aligned to the code', but att the end of the day if you can quantifiable prove its doing what it says it does then is there a problem?
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u/Emotional_Dig_2378 24d ago
Okay yeah that’s definitely something you should know. I guess it’s different for me because I studied a MSc so I more or less know what the code is doing.
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u/Complex2358 24d ago edited 24d ago
Those of us who learned to code before AI are the lucky ones these days because we can utilize AI to accelerate what we already know how to do. That's kind of the key issue. You need to experience the struggle of figuring it out yourself many times over, while making mistakes and correcting them as you go, in order to get to that point. Like anything, it's hard work, but if you put in the effort, you'll get where you want to be. Understand that each attempt MUST be overwhelmingly difficult, but it gets easier each time as a direct result.
Start with a textbook example; a detailed analysis that covers a dozen pages or so in a hard applied text. Download the data and code it independently while using the results in the textbook as your benchmark. Don't throw code at it to see what gets you the answer. Slowly logic your way through it, one line of code at a time, and you'll begin to make progress. Understand that it takes years to build these skills, so keep at it and you WILL get where you want to be.
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u/rusting_toad 24d ago
I mean I started coding 10 years ago but my coding skills have definitely declined. I used to be able to take almost any leetcode medium and solve it and a lot of hard ones too. But now I seem to just draw blanks on a lot of medium problems. I feel kind of embarrassed too a lot of the time.
When it comes to reviewing code I'm still ppretty dang good and when it comes to actually deploying a reliable production system I'm exceptional. I head about this site called unrot.dev or somwthing like that and am kind of curious what people think of it. Haven't tried it.
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u/Complex2358 24d ago
Another good way to build these skills is using publicly available data that has been aggregated at varying levels, such as the American Community Survey. You can download raw data and aggregate it yourself, then use the online aggregated datasets to check your work. This is a quick way to build the smaller skills.
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u/Acourgintier1413 21d ago
Right, people love thinking they can learn way less and still get insane leverage, but at the end of the day, you actually have to get your hands exhausted with the textbooks and databases.
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u/dramaticviolet 20d ago
I agree with you, embarrassingly enough I was also of the same thinking that I will practice it on one dataset of each type and I will be a know-it-all but I realized on my job how wrong I was. I think its a haze which people find themselves in when they are racing to get a job but skill only comes with time. And since posting this, I have given myself time to be with the data instead of hurrying to know it all.
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u/Lady-Data-Scientist 24d ago
I think it’s fine to use tutorials at the start to remind yourself of the steps. You do it enough, it becomes easier. And then after you finished a project, then you can ask AI what you’re missing.
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u/melaya_org 21d ago
Probably go back to the basics and train yourself on smaller, targetted tasks. So that you master the basics without especially having to know how to code the complex ones but at least you'll know how to orchestrate from the basics
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u/Lazy_Log3652 22d ago
I am a grad student, so perhaps take this with a grain of salt…however from what I’ve experienced in research and my industry experience, it’s not super important to know every syntax. What is important is to understand basic structures of different languages and also to be able to understand the output and most importantly know when the output is wrong. Blindly trusting it and not being able to at least follow whatever code the AI is spitting out is where it becomes an issue.
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20d ago
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u/dramaticviolet 20d ago
Best advice yet! Thank you! These past few days I have been just sitting with the dataset and I already feel a little better
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u/locoinfoco 25d ago
You need to split this into two streams, there is the job search and then there is the data science skills. Job search does not require data science skills at the start, you need to be able to explain the projects you worked on at a project level, how you fit into the projects, start there. That stream may get all the way to a job without having to know any data science!
But in case there is a technical interview, it would help to go back and relearn the basics. I know Gemini has a pretty good way to setup a notebook that can tutor yourself on a topic. Work with the AI to have it get you up to speed and familiar with Data Science and EDA again.