
Data Skeptic
The Data Skeptic Podcast features interviews and discussion of topics related to data science, statistics, machine learning, artificial intelligence and the like, all from the perspective of applying critical thinking and the scientific method to evaluate the veracity of claims and efficacy of approaches.
Latest episodes

Aug 31, 2020 • 27min
Voting Mechanisms
Steven Heilman joins us to discuss his paper Designing Stable Elections. For a general interest article, see: https://theconversation.com/the-electoral-college-is-surprisingly-vulnerable-to-popular-vote-changes-141104 Steven Heilman receives funding from the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Aug 24, 2020 • 33min
False Consensus
Sami Yousif joins us to discuss the paper The Illusion of Consensus: A Failure to Distinguish Between True and False Consensus. This work empirically explores how individuals evaluate consensus under different experimental conditions reviewing online news articles. More from Sami at samiyousif.org Link to survey mentioned by Daniel Kerrigan: https://forms.gle/TCdGem3WTUYEP31B8

6 snips
Aug 18, 2020 • 38min
Fraud Detection in Real Time
Fraud detection in e-commerce is a complex challenge, and humor lightens the mood as insights unfold. The importance of converting historical data into actionable datasets for machine learning is explored. Real-time data processing is emphasized as crucial for effective fraud detection. Additionally, the episode dives into managing chargebacks in high-risk industries and the need for agile responses to fraud. Through anecdotes and expert tips, listeners gain valuable knowledge on improving their fraud detection strategies.

Aug 11, 2020 • 23min
Listener Survey Review
In this episode, Kyle and Linhda review the results of our recent survey. Hear all about the demographic details and how we interpret these results.

Jul 27, 2020 • 33min
Human Computer Interaction and Online Privacy
Moses Namara from the HATLab joins us to discuss his research into the interaction between privacy and human-computer interaction.

Jul 20, 2020 • 33min
Authorship Attribution of Lennon McCartney Songs
Mark Glickman joins us to discuss the paper Data in the Life: Authorship Attribution in Lennon-McCartney Songs.

Jul 11, 2020 • 27min
GANs Can Be Interpretable
Erik Härkönen joins us to discuss the paper GANSpace: Discovering Interpretable GAN Controls. During the interview, Kyle makes reference to this amazing interpretable GAN controls video and it’s accompanying codebase found here. Erik mentions the GANspace collab notebook which is a rapid way to try these ideas out for yourself.

Jul 6, 2020 • 29min
Sentiment Preserving Fake Reviews
David Ifeoluwa Adelani joins us to discuss Generating Sentiment-Preserving Fake Online Reviews Using Neural Language Models and Their Human- and Machine-based Detection.

Jun 26, 2020 • 32min
Interpretability Practitioners
Sungsoo Ray Hong joins us to discuss the paper Human Factors in Model Interpretability: Industry Practices, Challenges, and Needs.

Jun 19, 2020 • 48min
Facial Recognition Auditing
Deb Raji joins us to discuss her recent publication Saving Face: Investigating the Ethical Concerns of Facial Recognition Auditing.