Stories from the Hackery NashviIIe Software School

In this episode of Stories from the Hackery, Founder and CEO of Nashville Software School, John Wark, sits down with lead analytics instructor, Michael Holloway, to provide insights into the impact of generative AI tools like ChatGPT on data analytics and data science. They highlight the importance of human oversight and contextual understanding in leveraging these tools effectively as well as strategies for adapting programs at Nashville Software School to prepare students for evolving roles in data analytics and data science are discussed, emphasizing the need for continuous learning and skill development.

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Want to support NSS in our mission to teach adults skills needed for careers in tech? Visit our website to donate to the scholarship fund and learn about other volunteer opportunities! https://Nashss.com/Give


CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction.
03:10 - An overview of data analytics and data science.
04:30 - The evolution and impact of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and their role in supporting data analytics and data science tasks.
05:33 - Similarities and differences between software development and data analytics/data science are explored, focusing on how generative AI tools transform learning and work processes.
06:31 - Similarities in using generative AI tools for coding tasks and the importance of understanding contextual knowledge and problem domains.
08:12 - Key differences between software development and data analytics/data science, such as exploratory nature and iterative problem-solving approaches, are highlighted.
10:18 - The iterative exploration process in data analytics is discussed, emphasizing the need for planning, design, and contextual understanding of the data.
12:10 - Limitations of generative AI tools like ChatGPT in reasoning and understanding complex data contexts are explained.
13:05 - Capabilities and limitations of generative AI tools, emphasizing their dependence on training data and human validation.
17:42 - The importance of human oversight in using generative AI tools.
22:58 - Domain expertise in data analytics and data science tasks, emphasizing the limitations of generative AI tools.
24:48 Training strategies at NSS to prepare students for evolving roles in data analytics and data science.
46:08 - Strategies for adapting training content to incorporate skills relevant to generative AI tools.
01:04:2 - Closing.

In this Alumni Spotlight episode of Stories from the Hackery, we catch up with Full-time Web Development Cohort 22 alumna Kimmy Bird to discuss her NSS journey. From her time as a product owner at an international education company to now working as an Elixir backend developer in Germany, hear about the diverse paths NSS graduates have access to in the tech industry after graduation.

Connect with Kimmy on LinkedIn!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-j-bird/

Learn more about Nashville Software School and begin your own journey toward a career in tech, visit our website NashvilleSoftwareSchool.com

Nashville Software School is the nation’s first non-profit coding bootcamp, dedicated to teaching adults how to code through web development, data analytics, and data science. If you’d like to help support NSS’ mission to diversify tech, visit our giving site to make a monthly or one-time donation: https://support.nashvillesoftwareschool.com/ways-to-give

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:31 Transitioning to Tech
04:05 Learning Experience and Overcoming Challenges
08:33 Career Transition and NSS Support
13:36 International Opportunities in Tech
16:31 Gratitude and Acknowledgments
20:43 Final thoughts
21:20 Outro

Gabe Guio is a Nashville Software School graduate who contributed to the recent local data conference, DataTune Nashville, in a big way. He had the opportunity to not only build the website for the conference that serviced over 400 attendee registrations, but also built a conference scanner application that sponsors used to capture the information of attendees as they visited sponsor tables for a raffle prize at the end of the day. In this episode of Stories from the Hackery, Gabe shares how he was connected with the team at DataTune Nashville and what tools he used to create the applications for the conference.

Resources References in this podcast:
Connect with Gabe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabeguio/

Gabe’s Conference Scanner App Walk-through Videos:
Conference Demo Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEyQImODfUw
Advized Raffle Short: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9bG_WHxK00Q

Learn more about Nashville Software School and our upcoming programs when you visit our website: https://NashvilleSoftwareSchool.com

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
2:49 Gabe’s background before attending Nashville Software School
5:29 - Volunteering with Data Tune Nashville Conference
7:30 - Building the Website for Data Tune Nashville
11:39 - Building the Conference Scanner app for Data Tune Nashville
17:44 - Gabe’s experience with the Nashville tech community
20:33 - Outro


Producer & Editor: Jessica Grande

From mock interviews, to resume talks and Demo Day scheduling, there’s no shortage of opportunities for our students to gain the skills necessary to their job search after graduation.! In the latest episode of Stories from the Hackery, NSS’s Career Development Team Lead, Ashley Canino, and Career Development Specialist, Michael Frieh, talk about how they work with every student at NSS to prepare them for their job search post-graduation!

Learn more about Nashville Software School and our upcoming programs when you visit our website: https://NashvilleSoftwareSchool.com

0:00 Intro
1:37 Career Development Services Overview
1:48 What to expect from Career Development at NSS
8:32 Meet the community at Round Table Events Overview
10:25 Preparing with Mock Interviews
14:25 Present your project at Demo Day
17:06 Outro

Producer & Editor: Jessica Grande

Nashville Software School Founder and CEO John Wark sits down with Full-time Web Development Lead Instructor, Steve Brownlee, to discuss Steve’s research in how generative AI can be a helpful tool the popularity of LLMs continue to grow in software development.

Learn more about Nashville Software School and our upcoming programs when you visit our website: https://NashvilleSoftwareSchool.com

0:00 Intro
1:53: Generative AI is creating a new set of skills that developers need to learn
5:29 How NSS grads were using generative AI in mid-2023
9:30 The generative AI hype cycle & NSS’s exploration
14:05 How have NSS’s students learned to use generative AI as a learning assistant
20:04 Deepening our understanding of generative AI
24:50 Steve Brownlee’s exploration of generative AI for developers
31:40 Can these tools handle system level tasks?
42:52 Exploration with GitHub Copilot
49:33 Grading ChatGPT, Claude, and GitHub Copilot models
51:10 Takeaways: How we plan to incorporate generative AI and prompt engineering into our Web Developer program
1:01:25 Final Thoughts


Resources References in this podcast:

Steve Brownlee’s blog post: https://www.stevebrownlee.com/genai-stole-my-work/

Chat GPT: https://chat.openai.com/

Claude: https://claude.ai/login?returnTo=%2F

Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot

Language References found in the podcast:
GenAI = Generative AI. Refers to artificial intelligence systems that have the capability to generate new content, such as images, text, audio, or even video, that is similar to, or inspired by, the data they were trained on. These systems are designed to learn the underlying patterns and structures within the data and then generate novel outputs based on that understanding.

LLMs = Large Language Models. Refers to a type of artificial intelligence (AI) model that has been trained on vast amounts of text data in order to understand and generate human-like language. These models, such as OpenAI's GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) series, are designed to process and generate text in a wide range of contexts, tasks, and languages.

Foundation Model = Foundation models use self-supervised learning to create labels from input data. This means no one has instructed or trained the model with labeled training data sets. This feature separates LLMs from previous ML architectures, which use supervised or unsupervised learning.

Emergent Behavior = Refers to actions or patterns that weren't explicitly programmed into an AI system but developed as a natural outcome of its complexity and interactions. Imagine a colony of ants. No single ant has the blueprint for the colony's intricate behavior.

Producer & Editor: Jessica Grande

Markus Matheny graduated with full time Data Analytics Cohort 9.

I've worked a hundred jobs and never had a career. However, I've always lived a data-driven approach to my life, trying to look at numbers and seeking truth that way. After spending years teaching myself, I realized this was a passion and so I selfishly enrolled in data school to learn how to make my own projects.