How Is AI Changing the Science of Prediction?

Emmanuel Candès discusses how data science and machine learning are revolutionizing prediction in complex systems:

1. Black box models can make accurate predictions without understanding underlying processes.

2. Statisticians are developing methods to quantify uncertainty in black box predictions.

3. These techniques are applied to real-world problems like college admissions and election forecasting.

4. The goal is to provide well-calibrated prediction intervals, not just point estimates.

5. Data science combines traditional statistics with new approaches for massive datasets.

This field aims to make reliable predictions and quantify uncertainty using complex models.