[rrjjww]

Sure, advertising is collectively a multi-trillion dollar industry propelled largely by computer/data science, but it is still only a fraction of overall economic activity driven by advancements in data analysis.

The past couple decades have seen huge advancements in safety, reduced workplace injuries, auto injuries, etc. all driven in some part by analytics.

This sentiment that “all data analysis = advertising = evil” seems very reductive. It reminds me of all the comments I see from my technical peers about how “useless” other departments are such as HR and Sales, when they’re fundamental to a healthy business which pays the salaries of programmers.