Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.

“Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.” is a task performed by Data Scientists. Among the occupation's 16 rated tasks, workers place it 12th by importance (#5 most important).

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Analyze scientific or applied data using mathematical principles. in Analyzing Data or Information

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E1. Direct exposure — a language model could plausibly cut the time to do this task by at least half.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 1.00. Automation potential label: T3.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.
• Apply feature selection algorithms to models predicting outcomes of interest, such as sales, attrition, and healthcare use.
• Apply sampling techniques to determine groups to be surveyed or use complete enumeration methods.
• Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software.
• Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.
• Deliver oral or written presentations of the results of mathematical modeling and data analysis to management or other end users.
• Design surveys, opinion polls, or other instruments to collect data.
• Identify business problems or management objectives that can be addressed through data analysis.
• Identify relationships and trends or any factors that could affect the results of research.
• Identify solutions to business problems, such as budgeting, staffing, and marketing decisions, using the results of data analysis.
• Propose solutions in engineering, the sciences, and other fields using mathematical theories and techniques.
• Read scientific articles, conference papers, or other sources of research to identify emerging analytic trends and technologies.
• Recommend data-driven solutions to key stakeholders.
• Test, validate, and reformulate models to ensure accurate prediction of outcomes of interest.

See all tasks on the Data Scientists page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-21827,
  title  = {Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 8, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-21827}
}