Use Machine Learning (ML) with Amazon Athena - Amazon Athena
Considerations and limitations

Use Machine Learning (ML) with Amazon Athena

Machine Learning (ML) with Amazon Athena lets you use Athena to write SQL statements that run Machine Learning (ML) inference using Amazon SageMaker. This feature simplifies access to ML models for data analysis, eliminating the need to use complex programming methods to run inference.

To use ML with Athena, you define an ML with Athena function with the USING EXTERNAL FUNCTION clause. The function points to the SageMaker model endpoint that you want to use and specifies the variable names and data types to pass to the model. Subsequent clauses in the query reference the function to pass values to the model. The model runs inference based on the values that the query passes and then returns inference results. For more information about SageMaker and how SageMaker endpoints work, see the Amazon SageMaker Developer Guide.

For an example that uses ML with Athena and SageMaker inference to detect an anomalous value in a result set, see the AWS Big Data Blog article Detecting anomalous values by invoking the Amazon Athena machine learning inference function.

Considerations and limitations

  • Available Regions – The Athena ML feature is feature in the AWS Regions where Athena engine version 2 or later are supported.

  • SageMaker model endpoint must accept and return text/csv – For more information about data formats, see Common data formats for inference in the Amazon SageMaker Developer Guide.

  • Athena does not send CSV headers – If your SageMaker endpoint is text/csv, your input handler should not assume that the first line of the input is a CSV header. Because Athena does not send CSV headers, the output returned to Athena will contain one less row than Athena expects and cause an error.

  • SageMaker endpoint scaling – Make sure that the referenced SageMaker model endpoint is sufficiently scaled up for Athena calls to the endpoint. For more information, see Automatically scale SageMaker models in the Amazon SageMaker Developer Guide and CreateEndpointConfig in the Amazon SageMaker API Reference.

  • IAM permissions – To run a query that specifies an ML with Athena function, the IAM principal running the query must be allowed to perform the sagemaker:InvokeEndpoint action for the referenced SageMaker model endpoint. For more information, see Allow access for ML with Athena.

  • ML with Athena functions cannot be used in GROUP BY clauses directly

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