Unlock the Power of AI: Our Data Science Bootcamp’s Latest Curriculum Upgrade

At Lighthouse Labs, we’re constantly striving to teach our students the latest industry-aligned skills to set them up for short and long-term success in their first job and well beyond. In fact, 96% of our graduates claim to still use the skills they learned in our programs in their current roles. In the rapidly evolving landscape of data science education and the advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) hitting the front page almost daily, staying ahead of the curve is essential for aspiring professionals.

As part of our commitment to our students and community, we updated our Data Science Program curriculum starting in January 2024 to keep up with the latest AI and data science advancements. As part of these updates, we have introduced a new module that focuses on teaching the usage of large language models (LLM) and natural language processing (NLP) for solving business problems in the context of data science. Focusing on practical, real-world applications, we designed our updated curriculum to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in the current and future job landscape.

Evolution of our Data Science Program

Our Data Science Program aims to provide a well-rounded education that prepares students to tackle the challenges of the data-driven world and excel in their careers as data scientists and machine learning professionals. Our curriculum covers various topics and skills essential for success in the field, such as data analysis and visualization, machine learning fundamentals, statistical modeling, and programming.

That said, as technologies continue to advance, the job market’s in-demand skills do too. While “proficient in Microsoft Word” once stood out on a resume, it’s now a standard skill that applicants are expected to have. This is why we conducted a thorough investigation and consulted with leaders and experts in the field to determine the best way to ensure Lighthouse Labs graduates remain competitive. We have concluded that our Data Science curriculum needed to include more about advanced neural networks, prompt engineering, and LLMs.

As data science continues to permeate diverse sectors, from finance to healthcare, the ability to harness the power of language data has emerged as a critical asset for organizations seeking to derive actionable intelligence from textual information.

Introducing the LLM for NLP tasks module

Starting in January, all students in the Data Science Program will learn the practical applications of large language models, prompt engineering, fine-tuning, and API integration. This new module was designed for entry-level data scientists seeking hands-on experience in the field and allows students to build a NLP project to add to their portfolio. Students will learn how to apply knowledge of LLMs to effectively address a variety of NLP tasks, such as sentiment analysis (understanding the feelings in text), summarization (creating AI summaries of long text), and entity recognition (spotting important names and places embedded in text). They’ll also cover how to ask the right questions and prompts and make these language models work for different jobs. Plus, all this will be tied in with ethical AI considerations.

Learning how to apply knowledge of LLMs to address a variety of NLP tasks effectively offers several significant advantages in a wide range of professional contexts, such as:

• Equipping individuals with advanced analytical capabilities, allowing them to derive deeper insights from textual data.
• Enabling professionals to make more informed decisions based on the analysis of sentiment, summarized content, and identified entities within text.
• Improved understanding and interpretation of the sentiment and key information conveyed in written text, leading to more effective interactions and messaging.
• Enabling the automation of various text-related processes, such as summarization and entity recognition, leading to increased efficiency and productivity.
• Fostering innovation and problem-solving by enabling individuals to develop new applications, tools, and solutions that leverage the power of language understanding and generation.

(PS: If you’ve already graduated from our data science program and feel FOMO, don’t worry! As part of our promise to provide lifelong access to our learning platform and up-to-date curriculum, all alumni will have access to the new module as an asynchronous, optional course.)

Ready to dive into the world of data science and machine learning? You can start today with Lighthouse Labs' Data Science Program.

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