Hello Reader,

I hope you're doing well!

It's been months since I last sent a newsletter - I'm super happy to be back again!

I probably wouldn't be a good influencer (?!!) if I didn't offer a Black Friday discount for my course 🤣. So here it is:

If you remember from my previous newsletters, I’ve been working on this course for months; it's a labor of love for me. It’s a bundle of five "sub-courses" (see curriculum) designed to guide you through a complete journey.

Now, most of the course content is available (hence the price increase), but more valuable, high-quality materials are still coming.

This course is perfect for those of you who want to start mastering Python fundamentals, get started with machine learning and the latest AI technologies (e.g., LLMs), and gain hands-on experience by building real AI projects! Also, if you enjoy my teaching style, you'll love this course.

A few months ago, I made a video on data job trends. With the end of the year approaching, I wanted to share some thoughts on the job market trends and what I’d do to prepare for 2025.

1. Python has become the language of AI

You probably already know that Python and SQL are the dominating tools in most data and tech jobs today.

In a recent podcast with Eric Schmidt (Ex Google CEO), he advised a young person to learn how to write programs, especially in Python, because Python has become the language of AI.

The surge we see in Python's popularity in 2024 might be the result of this.

So I were to learn a new skill today to advance my career, I'd definitely choose Python.

2. Fewer Jobs? More Jobs?

The total number of data jobs has decreased by around 30% compared to last year (based on data collected by Luke Barrouse at https://datanerd.tech/). Number of new job posts towards the end of this year is particularly low.

But should we panic?

Not necessarily.

There has been a lot of concern about the impact of AI on jobs, especially high-skilled ones like data analysts, data scientists, and engineers. Many discussions tend to polarize around “more jobs” or “fewer jobs,” but there’s a third possibility: different jobs.

With AI being used everywhere, data jobs will become very different from what they are today.

In the short term, AI automation may lead to less jobs and this is what we are seeing in the job posting trends. But I think in the long term, job market will adapt as people upskill themselves, and it turns out there are new demands and new kinds of jobs (such as evaluating and monitoring AI's outputs, and researching AI safety and ethics).

Capable AI can help us become better at our jobs, potentially making fewer mistakes (precisely because we are human).

An interesting study recently that ChatGPT diagnoses patients better than doctors— with 90% diagnostic accuracy. But what’s even more surprising? Doctors who use ChatGPT are barely more accurate than those who don’t (76% vs. 74%).

Though this study is small (only 50 physicians), it suggests that experts may be overconfident and might dismiss AI’s correct diagnoses if they conflict with their own.

I think there's a lot of potential to be realized if we learn how to use AI smartly. And figuring this out will become an important part of any jobs in the future.

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I wish you all a happy holiday season! 🎉

Cheers,

Thu