Google Funding the Automated Statistician

Fundamentally a very old idea.  But much maligned by statisticians.   Our own experiments in this area might be called semi-automated.  Were step by step, with close connections to key needs from business process definitions, and sometimes required check-offs by formally stat trained people.   Some similarities to efforts like Watson Analytics, which focuses to specific business contexts.   Cambridge-Google announcement from last year.  And a related site.   Specific project description. See also:  Automating the Data Scientist by William Vorhies in DSC.