The real prerequisite for machine learning isn’t math, it’s data analysis (2016)
As a mathematician, people routinely tell me that mathematics isn't applicable in a particular situation. Upon deeper investigation, I usually find that they simply have a very limited understanding of what math is. Most people associate it with numbers and equations -- but those are just a few tools that are taught early on. Actual math is about analysis and some of these tools MAY be used when preforming it. Even some of the deeper topics, such as calculus and algebra are simply tools in a greater framework of understanding.Even if you're using very little of what you think of as "math" to interact with your machine learning framework, to dismiss math as not being necessary is ignoring all of the underlying mathematics that went into creating it. You may not need calculus, or the like, but the math is there -- even if you don't recognize it as such.