Career
AI career prospects
Five years ago, the main career trend was to “break into IT”. High demand against the background of a shortage of qualified personnel made it easier to find employment and raise the starting level of wages. Now this market is close to being saturated, and junior specialists no longer receive such privileges. Have the opportunities been completely missed? No, the focus has just shifted a little bit. Today, it is fashionable to “break in” not just into IT, into AI, that is, into areas related to the development and use of artificial intelligence. Some of their professions have been familiar to us for a long time, while others have appeared just in the last 2-3 years. We will talk about the prospects of working in the field of artificial intelligence and what level of income you can expect here.
Break into AI here and now
When we talk about artificial intelligence, many people imagine incredibly complex machines and software systems that require years of training. But in fact, there are AI professions that allow you to get started in a couple of months or even weeks of training.
Prompt engineer
A specialist who writes queries for generative intelligence. Practice shows that ChatGPT can write a good article that is ready for publication on the Internet with minimal edits. But to do this, the query should contain approximately 300-500 words. Similarly, Midjourney generates site graphics or photorealistic images based on 100-200 words of the query. Why is it important to get everything the first time? Large companies do not use simple subscriptions to AI services, but their APIs. Each request is not only time but also money.
In the prompt engineering profession, it is not education or even knowledge of the principles of AI that is important, but experience working with generative models. In many ways, such a specialist relies on intuition, because the reaction of artificial intelligence is unstable and unpredictable. A big advantage for a candidate will be to have a collection of their own proposals (requests).
Average salary a prompt engineer in the US — $30 per hour, or $5,000 per month.
AI writer
Copywriting is an important part of promoting a business on the Internet. However, the job of most copywriters is to uniquely present information that is already available on the Internet in one form or another. Artificial intelligence is not able to completely replace a qualified copywriter — search engines have quite high requirements for the quality of online content. However, he can be a reliable assistant.
An AI writer uses generative artificial intelligence to draft an article and select a relevant model. He writes the most important parts of the text himself, such as the introduction and the CTA. He also needs to read and edit the generated passages — add links, add the author's style, and remove redundant speech. On average, AI accelerates text content generation by 30%. It also allows you to opt out of editor services.
Average salary AI writer in the US — $39 per hour, or $6,750 per month.
AI marketer
If you have at least a little experience in marketing, you can upgrade your profession. Artificial intelligence will increase the efficiency of segmenting the target audience, writing advertisements, and even creating attractive graphics for marketing campaigns.
The catch is that AI marketers need to deal not only with generative models, but also with Big Data analysis platforms that allow them to find hidden relationships in huge amounts of information. Fortunately, you don't have to learn programming languages and mathematical methods to do this. It is enough to know the logic and basic principles of analytics — to understand what you have and what you want to get in the end.
Average salary AI marketer in the US — $25 per hour, or $4,000 per month.
AI trainer
If you have solid experience in a particular field, you can become a professional consultant. The task is quite simple: to show employees in other companies how they can improve their productivity using artificial intelligence. It will be necessary to study their workflows and come up with ways to integrate AI.
The work of a consultant does not require supernatural knowledge, but the mandatory requirements are creativity, communication skills and the ability to improvise. There are many examples when true professionals built their multi-million dollar business through training and training.
Average salary AI coach in the US — $31 per hour, or $5,500 per month.
For the long term
If you're not in a hurry or don't plan to change your profession, you can spend a little more time gaining technical knowledge and skills. The work of qualified engineers is always highly paid and is appreciated by top companies.
Machine learning engineer
Machine learning (ML) is one of the most popular branches of artificial intelligence. Knowing the principles of operation of such technologies, you can develop your own generative models and teach them to perform certain tasks. Who knows, maybe your product will become a promising analogue of ChatGPT and Midjourney that will change the rules of the game in digital marketing of the future.
Of course, the requirements for candidates for the position of machine learning engineer are quite high. They must be proficient in several programming languages (for example, Java, Python, and Scala), have experience in popular frameworks, understand the structure of building applications, and have at least minimal coding experience. Training takes from 3 months to 2 years, depending on the starting level of knowledge and final goals.
Average salary An ML engineer in the US is $75 per hour, or $12,000 per month.
Data analyst
Artificial intelligence can also perform more complex tasks than generating text and pictures. However, he will need requests of a completely different level. Instead of verbal prompts, you'll have to write code to create a wrapper for the machine learning model. Therefore, the mandatory requirements are knowledge of the programming languages Python, Perl, Scala, SQL, etc. Knowledge of AI frameworks would also be useful.
Another requirement for an analyst is statistical analysis skills and the ability to structure data. Therefore, a big advantage will be the availability of mathematical education. In general, a candidate should love numbers and be able to work with them. It sounds complicated, but it's worth it.
Average salary data analytics in the US — $42 per hour, or $7,000 per month
NLP engineer
NLP technology — live speech recognition. It was she who made possible Siri, ChatGPT and numerous chatbots that can work not only with program code, but also with natural queries expressed in simple words. NLP makes artificial intelligence available not only to a select few, but also to everyone, including those who do not know programming languages and mathematical methods.
However, the requirements for an NLP engineer himself are quite high: ability to write code, knowledge of complex logical principles, skills in creating algorithms, and communication skills for conducting tests in real scenarios. And this is only the minimum for those who are applying for a junior level position.
Average salary NLP engineer in the US — $58 per hour, or $10,000 per month.
AI Ethics Specialist
Does this profession seem frivolous to you? Now remember that in the near future, humanity is going to introduce artificial intelligence into all areas of its life — from cooking to government management. What if he decides which of us will have more rights and who will be restricted from accessing even basic services? It is clear that this should not be allowed to happen.
An AI ethicist must ensure that new software developments do not violate anyone's rights and do not create discrimination. It makes recommendations for solving such problems and points out possible shortcomings of artificial intelligence. He is required to have knowledge of programming and algorithm architecture, law and psychology.
Average salary AI ethics specialist in the US — $40 per hour, or $6,800 per month.
Which career path should you choose?
It all depends on your inclinations and preferences. If you are strong in the technical field, we recommend choosing engineering specialties, for example, developing ML models or NLP systems. If you prefer the humanities, pay attention to the professions of an AI writer, marketer, prompt engineer, or consultant. In any case, you will have to work in a highly competitive environment that requires continuous training. However, salary statistics show that all efforts will pay off quickly.
Are you looking for a job related to the development and application of artificial intelligence? Contact us for a list of vacancies at Start:Duck. We use the latest technologies and advanced solutions for online business development and will be happy to see you on our team!
