Rise of the machines

Abstract

On the 50th anniversary of the COPSS, I reflect on the rise of the field of machine learning and what it means for statistics. Machine learning offers a plethora of new research areas, new applications areas and new colleagues to work with. Our students now compete with those in machine learning for jobs. I am optimistic that visionary statistics departments will embrace this emerging field; those that ignore or eschew machine learning do so at their own risk and may find themselves in the rubble of an outdated, antiquated field.