Data mining and AI-driven 'quant by feel' are essentially the same in quantitative trading; the core should focus on the structural source of trading edge.

The article points out that data mining and AI-driven 'quant by feel' are identical in essence and philosophy, both attempting to skip the core step of understanding how markets work and profit directly from the market. A genuine trading edge requires identifying the counterparty being profited from, the reason they continue to pay, and the rationale for one's own ability to participate in the trade; such structural edge cannot be identified through backtesting optimization alone.