Hey folks,
A quick reminder that our next webinar is this tomorrow (Thursday) at 2pm EDT.
These webinars are free and open to everyone - if you know someone who'd find this useful, feel free to forward or repost.
Current schedule and abstracts are below.
UPCOMING WEBINARS
[01] The AI Train Has Not Left the Station. (But Get On Board.)
The hardest part of using AI tools is taking the first step. Let's cut through the noise and get you started.
Thursday, April 2, 2026 | 2:00-3:00pm ET | www.linkedin.com/events/7440847551005650946
[02] Claude Code, Cowork, & Chat
If I had to pick just one AI tool, it would be Claude. But Claude is actually 3-in-1 - so let's walk through all of them.
Thursday, April 9, 2026 | 2:00-3:00pm ET | www.linkedin.com/events/7441294080959008768
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ABSTRACTS
1. The AI Train Has Not Left the Station. (But Get On Board.) Thursday, April 2, 2026 | 2:00-3:00pm ET Registration: www.linkedin.com/events/7440847551005650946
AI is simultaneously overhyped and underhyped (Schrödinger's hype-cat, if you will...and in a blackbox too!). It's overhyped because we're drowning in AI slop, confidently wrong answers, and hallucinated citations. Also, some folks are using chatbots as a substitute for thinking. (Admittedly, it's largely the same crowd that will substitute anything for thinking, so that's not AI's fault.)
It's also underhyped for data scientists and statisticians, specifically. Because these tools are opening up huge opportunities for us - AI's knocking over major barriers in what we can do and how long it takes to do it. It's high signal + high noise, but the profession can't afford to wait for the dust to settle before jumping in.
I'd like to cut through the noise and get you comfortable with trying some AI tools at the ground level. We'll cover straightforward ways to get real value from AI for both repetitive and open-ended work, and we'll review the "AI blooper reel" - showing where these tools fail - so you develop a feel for when to trust them and when not to.
This webinar will stay high-level and non-technical. If you're looking for AI-assisted coding, check out the Claude Code webinar on April 9.
P.S. If you attended the January version of this webinar - I've updated it to reflect some of the shifts over the last 2 months, particularly around Claude. That said, the core material is similar enough that your time might be better spent on Webinar 2 (April 9th). Or feel free to skip the first half and drop in for the Q&A.
2. Claude Code, Cowork, & Chat Thursday, April 9, 2026 | 2:00-3:00pm ET Registration: www.linkedin.com/events/7441294080959008768
We can't do a series on AI tools for data science without hopping into the tools. I'm starting with Claude because it addresses multiple parts of the data science workflow out of the box. The promise of AI is to make work easier, faster, and more efficient - and I think this one fits the bill.
Claude has 3 tools wrapped together in 1 app: Chat, Code, and Cowork. I'll give a practical tour of all three - what each one does (besides gobble up tokens), where it fits in a data science workflow, and how to actually use it.
For those interested in AI-assisted coding: I'll show a basic setup in VS Code that works whether you're used to working from scripts or notebooks. We'll also cover Claude.md files - what they are, why they matter, and how to write one that makes Claude useful instead of generic. I'll share some example files and starter prompts after the session.
If you've never touched Claude, are looking for a good baseline tool, or (like many of us) are just tired of ChatGPT, this should give you an option to consider.
P.S. This webinar stays at the practical/introductory level for Claude's tools. If you're looking for a broader intro to AI tools first, check out Webinar 1 (April 2).
Hope to see you there!
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Glen Wright Colopy
DPhil Oxon
Head of Data Science | Polaris Data Labs |
https://polarisdatalabs.com/Head of Data Science | IGOR - Your Personal Lab Assistant |
https://www.igorlabapp.com/------------------------------