15/07/2026 10:25 am
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im honestly so confused. ive been watching a few youtube videos on ai and everyone keeps talking about linear algebra and calculus like its the end of the world if you dont know it. i barely passed high school math lol. im trying to get into this for a career pivot because the pay sounds great but i have zero technical background and like, a 500 dollar budget for online courses. do i really need to go back to school for math or can i just learn to code the models? i just want to build simple apps for my local real estate office. is all that math actually used daily or is it just gatekeeping...
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15/07/2026 11:00 am
Regarding what #1 said about not needing math, I kinda disagree if you actually want to understand why your models break. You dont need a PhD, but basic linear algebra is crucial once you stop using pre-built tools. Check out Pearson Mathematics for Machine Learning if you want to save cash. It makes the scary stuff way more readable without being overly academic. Honestly, it works well enough to get you past the basics for those real estate apps.
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15/07/2026 10:25 am
> do i really need to go back to school for math or can i just learn to code the models? Honestly, you can start building apps without a math degree. Focus on APIs and existing frameworks first. Pick up O'Reilly Hands-On Machine Learning with Scikit-Learn, Keras, and TensorFlow 3rd Edition to get moving. Use high-level libraries and save the deep math for when you actually hit a wall. Most people just plug into pre-trained models anyway.
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15/07/2026 11:10 am
Re: "Regarding what #1 said about not needing math, I kinda disagree..." honestly I feel you so much. I have been stuck in this exact same spot for like four months now, just staring at these complex tutorials and feeling totally lost because I dont have that background either. Its honestly so frustrating that there isnt just a straight answer for people like us who just wanna build things without needing a degree. I have been trying to figure this out for ages and still havent found a way to bridge that gap without wanting to pull my hair out. Every time I get close to building something simple, I hit a wall where I dont know if I need to study trig or just move on to the next library.
- Honestly, I have just been scraping by with trial and error using stuff I find on YouTube.
- It feels like everyone expects you to know everything before you even write a single line of code.
- I am really just trying to make this work for a side project but the learning curve is massive. Im just as confused as you are tbh. It is super exhausting trying to navigate all this when you dont know where to start. If you end up finding a resource that actually explains things in plain English without all the heavy theory, let me know, because I am still searching too!
