Posts on Polimath

Corporate empathy about AI

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 -0400

A while back I gave my first talk to a general audience about AI. The presentation went well, and it was generally very well received. Then came the Q&A.

The person who spoke first was nearly in tears. They went on at length about the evils of AI and how they would never use it. They said AI is taking jobs (true) and that all the jobs it takes can be done better by humans (not true, in many cases). The speaker used up the time scheduled for questions. They ended, less with a question and more with a challenge to rebut.

Raising an Expert at Using AI

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Education in the age of AI should teach everything.
#

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking AI handles breadth, so school should narrow. Drop the languages, skip the history, double down on STEM, add a “prompt engineering” elective. That gets it backwards.

Good practices: Naming Things

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 00:00:00 -0400

There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation and naming things.

Phil Karlton

Bad names create confusion. Good names:

Provide clarity to consumers about what to find inside by telling us why we have the named thing.
Provide guidance to producers about what should and should not go inside, and tell us how we create the named thing.
Are easy to use: concise, memorable, easy-to-spell, not random or disconnected from how and why we have the named thing.
Avoid “collisions” = repeating a name of something else that is not distinguishable from context.

This is not a complete guide to naming, but rather a compilation of good practices¹ that generalize what I have found useful. We’ll discuss:

Get someone else to do it

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Sat, 08 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The easiest way to get something done is to get someone else to do it.

Stephen Haptonstahl

Thanksgiving dinner
#

Dad is about to put the turkey in the oven. There’s a lot of food yet to prepare. Three guests wander into the kitchen and ask how they can help. The last thing Dad needs is a distraction!

Cake Ander-18: NASA

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I make birthday cakes for each of my boys. I don’t use fondant – I strive for “tasty” – so it can get a bit crazy.

Ander has always been a fan of space. We’ve watched this IMAX movie about $6.02\cdot10^{23}$ times.

Cake Artemis-19.5: SawStop

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I make birthday cakes for each of my boys. I don’t use fondant – I strive for “tasty” – so it can get a bit crazy.

This year, Artemis was away at school learning to become a carpenter at North Bennet Street School in Boston, the oldest trade school in the country. Wow, did he learn a lot! With him hundreds of miles away, I couldn’t make him a cake for his mid-winter birthday, so I did something almost as good: a half-birthday cake.

How I lead (data) teams: principles

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Sun, 13 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

tl;dr
#

North star: Happier teams deliver more.
How I sail that course:
- Remove demotivating emotional shielding, using empathy and vulnerability to create a safe space.
- Motivate by providing purpose, autonomy, and the chance to develop mastery.
- Don’t control: trust.

Management is allocating resources. Leadership is influencing people toward goals.

Cake Ander-16: Mario

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I make birthday cakes for each of my boys. I don’t use fondant – I strive for “tasty” – so it can get a bit crazy.

Ander turns 16
#

This was around the time The Super Mario Bros. Movie had come out and Ander had shifted from MK8DX (that’s Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch, for you non-gamers) aficionado to ranked record-holder. Things were getting real. He asked for Mario, in chocolate, as usual.

How sure are you? Confidence v. Prediction intervals

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Two common uses for statistical (or machine learning) models are:

Something happened. Why?
Something will happen. What?

Spoiler Alert
#

When reporting results, tell your audience how certain you are. This is essential context.
“Why?”: When presenting parameters (drivers, slopes, causal effects, and the like) use something like a confidence interval, Bayesian credible interval, or bootstrapping the data.
“What?”: When presenting predictions, use a conformal prediction interval, Bayesian posterior predictive interval, or the like. Forecasts must use these.

“Why?” = inference about drivers
#

When we ask “why?” we are trying to make an inference about how the data was generated. Specifically, inferences about the parameters of the model, which can be thought of as measures of the relationships between features and the target.

Cake Ander-17: Yoshi!

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I make birthday cakes for each of my boys. I don’t use fondant – I strive for “tasty” – so it can get a bit crazy.

Ander turns 17
#

To say Ander is into Mario Kart is an understatement. He is ranked among world record holders. This is serious. This year, he had been playing a lot with the character Yoshi, so he decided that’s who he wanted.

One number doesn't do it: Context matters

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

“Our net promoter score for the new version is 42.”

Okay. So what? Is 42 good or bad? Should we continue rolling out the new version, or should we roll back to the previous version?

Veterans Day Breakfast

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Fri, 06 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

The sixth graders stood in a rough line, like at their first dance, uncertain about approaching. Each held an envelope or sheet of paper. One, a boy I recognized as a friend of my son, came up to me. I put down my napkin and stood to face him.

"Thank you" is always appropriate

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Grandfather taught me that if you’re not sure what to say, try “Thank you.”

“Here’s that report you asked for.”
“Thank you.”

“Have a good time!”
“Thank you!”

“I’d like to offer you some feedback.”
“Thank you.”

Not everything valuable is measurable

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I wrote before about types of value generated by data science projects. What happens if you can’t report value in dollars?

James Q. WIlson classified bureaucratic agencies based on whether their inputs and outputs were measurable.

Cake Artemis-22: Sardine Can

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I make birthday cakes for each of my boys. I don’t use fondant – I strive for “tasty” – so it can get a bit crazy.

Artemis turns 22
#

Artemis has an imagination. As is typical, he asked for something unusual for his 22nd birthday cake. Here’s the reference art:

The business value of a data science project

srh@haptonstahl.org (Stephen Haptonstahl, Ph.D.) — Mon, 26 May 2025 00:00:00 -0400

Data science should deliver business value.

When considering whether to invest in a data science project, itʼs useful to be clear about the kinds of value the project will bring.

Posts on Polimath

Corporate empathy about AI

Raising an Expert at Using AI

Education in the age of AI should teach everything. #

Good practices: Naming Things

Get someone else to do it

Thanksgiving dinner #

Cake Ander-18: NASA

Cake Artemis-19.5: SawStop

How I lead (data) teams: principles

tl;dr #

Cake Ander-16: Mario

Ander turns 16 #

How sure are you? Confidence v. Prediction intervals

Spoiler Alert #

“Why?” = inference about drivers #

Cake Ander-17: Yoshi!

Ander turns 17 #

One number doesn't do it: Context matters

Veterans Day Breakfast

"Thank you" is always appropriate

Not everything valuable is measurable

Cake Artemis-22: Sardine Can

Artemis turns 22 #

The business value of a data science project

Education in the age of AI should teach everything.
#

Thanksgiving dinner
#

tl;dr
#

Ander turns 16
#

Spoiler Alert
#

“Why?” = inference about drivers
#

Ander turns 17
#

Artemis turns 22
#