A machine learning roadmap for beginners in 2026

A machine learning roadmap for beginners in 2026 I wrote my data science roadmap 8 years ago. Some of its advice is still actual: learn programming, understand statistics, complete projects, and practice working with data. But I would change the emphasis now, especially with AI tools able to write much of the code. For example, in 2018 I wrote that you should develop a skill of formulating thoughts, searching for information, finding it and understanding it. Finding answers is much easier now, since you can just ask AI. But with the abundance of information and the ease of getting it, checking whether the answer is correct has become even more important, and it still requires learning the fundamentals and getting experience. In August, I gave a talk about building an ML career and answered questions from students. Many were worried about the same things: what to study, how much mathematics they need, which projects are worth doing, and whether their skills will become outdated before…