# The First Rule of Machine Learning: Start without Machine Learning

<https://eugeneyan.com/writing/first-rule-of-ml/>

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## What Jamie wrote

I hope at this point most people understand that machine learning isn't an exotic spice you can add to any problem to make it better. This article does a good job of highlighting other ways to solve similar problems, that are often easier and cheaper. And I like the key qualifier for deciding when the problem you are working on is ready for machine learning techniques.

> Having robust data pipelines and high-quality data labels also suggests you’re ready for machine learning.

If you are building a solution that you know will be at a scale that will require machine learning, getting those data pipelines right early on is very important.

## Facts

- Kind: [Page](https://links.thingelstad.xyz/kinds/page/)

## Appears in

- [WT196: Weekly Thing #196 / iPhone 13, iOS 15, watchOS 8](https://weekly.thingelstad.com/archive/196/), Notable

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