It wasn’t all that long ago that we considered AI to be an industry that focused solely on robots that could comprehensively speak the same language as us and understand it in return. Nowadays, AI assists us in predicting the weather and answering questions on business websites. It’s this diverse range of possibilities that make it such a unique industry to join, particularly for those who are trained engineers and programmers.
This type of engineer is incredibly specific to the AI industry, and as such, the financial rewards are incredibly lucrative. It’s said that this type of job lends itself to the applied research side of science, coupled with the interpretation of data. This type of engineering also requires you to be a programmer capable of knowing and working with numerous programming languages.
When you’re creating an AI product, someone needs to ensure the whole project comes to fruition relatively seamlessly. You will be working with product architects and everyone else in between, and so people-skills are required to ensure that everyone is happy both in terms of their work and communication. Your role is to help the machine element work happily alongside the people behind it. If you have been a project manager in previous roles, then your skills set will lend naturally to this position. If you have years of tech experience, coupled with management experience, this could be both a lucrative and rewarding job.
Software developers are often some of the most creative people when it comes to artificial intelligence. It requires more than just an analytical and precise mind to create software that works on so many levels to communicate with other people. The applications that software developers create have to be capable of completing tasks and functioning correctly throughout; these tasks also have to meet the needs of the user, which means that it frequently has to take into account years of research.
In an industry that’s bursting with new opportunities and works with so many different companies, suppliers and investors, finance is an vital wing that keeps businesses afloat. If you’re in AI already and want to move into the finance side of things, you already have essential, specialist knowledge of that industry. You could easily retrain with an online course, such as those offered by Suffolk University, to give you both knowledge of the tech side of the industry and the financial side in order to manage accounts.
The word ‘designer’ has such a broad meaning when it comes to AI, which is what makes it so interesting. This area of technology has so many different appearances and functions that what needs to be designed varies from project to project.
For example, the first instance of design needed for AI is that of creating prosthetic limbs and features for robots that mimic human functions. This requires some medical knowledge. After all, a robot will never be truly convincing if there isn’t some fundamental understanding of how the human body works behind it. It’s not just the appearance of prosthetics that requires a medical understanding, either. When it comes to sound and vision aids, these need a healthcare professional’s insight to gain knowledge of how they might work on a robot using AI.
The world of creativity and computing has long since been intertwined, but designers, composers, and other artists are becoming increasingly useful when it comes to AI design. The idea of ‘computational creativity’ piques curiosity in the AI industry in just in the same way that sentience does. There are many different arguments to be had over who truly creates a masterpiece when AI is at work (many would argue its the software designer, not the computer who is the creator). In order to continue research into computer-composed symphonies and artwork, designers and creatives are still needed for this industry – and not just for the marketing side of things.
It’s no secret that artificial intelligence is an exciting career to break into, but the vast nature of possibility when it comes to job positions is what makes it so intriguing. You could retrain in finance, learn project management, or even have a medical background and still be able to contribute to this sector. AI requires both precise knowledge, data interpretation and creativity to keep advancing. Whether you help to get product funding or teach a machine how to create a masterpiece, you will be contributing to one of the most exciting sectors in technology.