Prediction, Machine Learning, and Causal Inference

Much can, has, and is worth saying with respect to the promise of machine learning and its relation to the endeavor of causal inference. I am eager to engage in the conversation, but baring a captive audience, will just post some illuminating materials -- news articles, video seminars, and academic-oriented blogs -- which probably encapsulate my opinion better than I can articulate with brevity. It is my intention to curate this list regularly.

Quanta Magazine's interview with Judea Pearl on his book "The Book of Why" which attempts to democratize formal causal inference (15 May 2018).

A Stanford workshop on the relationships between machine learning and causal inference with engaging talks by thought leaders in computer science, epidemiology, statistics, and social sciences (25 April 2018).

A twitter data scientists personal epiphany regarding the importance of formal causal inference (24 May 2018).

A straightforward take on causal inference from a ML researcher in complex natural systems (24 June 2018).