Similarly a generalist software engineer should know what things are realistic and possible with data mining and machine learning. This is impractical. A gen

Similarly a generalist software engineer should know what things are realistic and possible with data mining and machine learning. This is impractical. A generalist software engineer should know that machine learning is possible, and have some idea of who they would ask for help if it became relevant (or to ask if it were relevant). They should be able to design systems which depend on these capabilities in collaboration with a domain specialist, and based on their advice. In this context, ML is like FPGA design, cryptography, network security, or embedded real time systems. A generalist should know they exist and that they contain hard problems. Likewise, a GP does not in general have a good understanding of cardiology. Rather, they have a good understanding of indications from basic tests that mean they should send their patient to a specialist.