It is true that parts of data analytics are being automated every day like visualization and reporting, and I believe the trend will continue well into the future.
I can understand this statement because many professions such as call center agents are being replaced by Chat bots and aspiring data analysts are afraid that if they start learning data analytics in a few years’ time they too will be out of work.
What is good about AI?
When used on routine and repetitive tasks AI is very efficient.
- AI can compute way faster than humans
- AI does not make not make errors
- AI greatly improves efficiency.
Finally, when we look at latest developments in « Strong » AI such as GANs, we see that machines can really take us to places we never imagined.
Why do I think AI will not kill data analysts but instead create more jobs for them?
A health care analyst, for example, is not required to only possess technical skills like SQL, Excel, R and Python, but most importantly they need to have key skills like health care industry knowledge (domain knowledge), communication, problem solving and critical thinking.