Who are the best data scientists in the world?

Asked "Who are the best data scientists in the world?", ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Perplexity named 42 distinct names across 5 answers on September 7, 2026, and 7 of them in two or more answers, and the engines did not agree; the closest to a consensus, Google Brain, was named by only 4 of 5.

Measured acrossChatGPTCopilotGeminiGoogle AI ModePerplexity

7 of 42 names confirmed · named in 2 or more of 5 answers · asked September 7, 2026 · 5 engines

Some of the best data scientists in the world include Yann LeCun, Geoffrey Hinton, Andrew Ng, Fei-Fei Li, Cassie Kozyrkov, and Hilary Mason, recognized for their contributions to AI, machine learning, and data-driven decision-making. They have made significant impacts in their respective fields, including deep learning, computer vision, and data science education. These individuals have been named as among the most influential in the field by various sources, including Intel, Kaggle, and Analytics Insight.

1Google Brainnamed in 4 of 5 answers
2Courseranamed in 2 of 5 answers
3Deeplearning.ainamed in 2 of 5 answers
4Clouderanamed in 2 of 5 answers
5Googlenamed in 2 of 5 answers
6Apache Arrownamed in 2 of 5 answers
7Fast Forward Labsnamed in 2 of 5 answers
8Demis Hassabisnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
9Geoffrey Hintonnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
10Alex Pentlandnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
11Yoshua Bengionamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
12Andrew Ngnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
13Yann LeCunnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
14Michael I. Jordannamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
15Fei-Fei Linamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
16Jeff Deannamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
17Cassie Kozyrkovnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
18Jeff Hammerbachernamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
19Soumith Chintalanamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
20Wes McKinneynamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
21Hilary Masonnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
22DJ Patilnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
23Hadley Wickhamnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
24Kate Starchnyinamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer
25Kagglenamed in 1 of 5 answersone answer

17 more names were ranked on this question.

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The full measurement

The position each of the 5 engines gave all 42 names.
How many of the 5 answers named each of them.
48 sampled observations behind this ranking, and where the engines disagree.
Fan-out — the query each engine actually searched.
Every citation, and the sources nobody cited.

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