The "chunks of data" technology involves may put off many women, but not Loise Mwarangu.
Ushering us to a gazebo in Westlands, she recounts how she landed in data science without ever going to a physical school.
Mwarangu is a data scientist at the Artificial Intelligence Centre for Excellence.
"I first did my university degree to major in economics and statistics, and worked as a data analyst for a short time. It is from there that I gained interest in this field," she says.
After a while, Mwarangu transitioned into more coding because she loved dealing with data.
"It was during the Covid-19 period in 2020 when I started learning data science through online courses, where most of them were free,” she said.
"I could just Google and look for a course that I wanted. At that time, I did not have a permanent job.”
Doing online courses was the trend amid lockdowns, and Mwarangu motivated herself by affirmations and words of encouragement each day.
"When I was doing online classes, my thought was that I really needed to learn AI and machine learning so I can create amazing projects and be the best data analyst that ever existed,” she said.
She did not imagine that her choice at that time would have a big impact on her career life in the future.
"I gained skills that I now use in my job and help me to put food on the table," she said.
"I joined AICE as an intern and that is how I ended up being a data scientist. It has now been a two-year journey and I'm proud of myself."
With three years of experience in data analysis, she decided to advance her studies to gain more skills.
She is currently doing a master's in computational intelligence at the University of Nairobi to advance her skills.
"With the knowledge I have gained in data science, what stands out for me is the ability to make life easier and routine tasks more bearable using data. One can literally automate anything with machine learning," she said.
Continue reading: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/big...ai-leverage-tech-to-turn-data-into-solutions/