{"id":34745,"date":"2019-03-30T10:43:26","date_gmt":"2019-03-30T02:43:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=34745"},"modified":"2019-04-19T08:56:10","modified_gmt":"2019-04-19T00:56:10","slug":"the-best-degrees-to-consider-for-a-career-in-artificial-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2019\/03\/30\/the-best-degrees-to-consider-for-a-career-in-artificial-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"The best degrees to consider for a career in Artificial Intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The tech industry has been focusing more on artificial intelligence (AI) and the different ways this new technology can be implemented these past few years. AI has now entered more industries and is transforming them like never before. In the retail sector, for instance, AI is now enabling better design of retail space based on customer flow and other insights that were not available before.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prominence of AI\nleads to higher demand for AI specialists, particularly specialists in select\nfields and implementations of artificial intelligence. If you are pursuing a\ncareer in AI or you want to venture deeper into this field, one of the best ways\nto get started is by earning a degree in \u2013 or related to – artificial\nintelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machine Learning Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to artificial intelligence and machine learning<\/a>, a degree in machine learning engineering is a perfect fit. The degree takes you through every part of machine learning and how it is implemented in different fields, including health and agriculture.\u00a0Artificial intelligence in healthcare<\/a>\u00a0has brought great impact in coming up with new surgical robots and finding ways to diagnose patients easier and more accurately.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main role of\nmachine learning engineers is developing the artificial intelligence itself. In\norder for an AI system to be capable of performing its tasks, it needs to learn\nfrom various sources. More importantly, it needs to be able to process natural\nlanguage and consume data in an effective way. The task of adding these\nfunctionalities to an AI system falls in the hands of machine learning\nengineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More programs in machine learning are available today, so you will have no trouble at all pursuing a degree in this field. Before you do, however, you also want to be familiar with the programming languages used in AI development, particularly Java, Python, and Scala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In order for an AI system to be capable of performing its tasks, it needs to learn from various sources. More importantly, it needs to be able to process natural language and consume data in an effective way. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Electrical and Computer Engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A master\u2019s degree in\nelectrical and computer engineering may seem like a broad one to pursue if you\nwant to focus on a career in AI, but today\u2019s programs are actually designed\nwith specific focuses in mind. You can, for example, earn a masters in electrical and\ncomputer engineering with advanced mobility focus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That focus in advanced\nmobility makes the engineering degree more valuable. This is because there are\nmore companies and research bodies developing autonomous systems for vehicles\nof different types. Even non-automotive companies like Nvidia and Intel are\ninvesting in their own autonomous vehicles and advanced mobility applications\nof AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s not the most\nexciting part about this field either. When you take into account research\nprograms that focus on drones and new types of vehicles \u2013 and the need for\nAI-based autonomous systems for these new vehicles \u2013 it is clear that it will\nbe one of the fastest-growing fields in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data Science<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, we have a degree\nin data science. As mentioned before, AI relies heavily on data to learn and\ndevelop intelligence. Data scientists are the ones responsible for leveraging\ndata to help AI and machine learning systems grow exponentially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feeding just any\nrandom data to an AI system is no longer enough. Advanced data filtering and\nprocessing is now required to help AI systems learn faster and more\neffectively. On top of that, it is up to data scientists to teach AIs how to\nprocess raw data and generate insights from various sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take IBM Watson as an example. The AI-based analytics tool is capable of consuming a large amount of data and producing relevant, contextual insights from multiple inputs. Watson can do so effectively thanks to the data it acquired from IBM\u2019s data scientists in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Similar to data scientists, it is up to business intelligence specialists to train AIs how to mine relevant data.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Business Intelligence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As AI became more\nprominent, its use in business settings became more common too. In fact,\nbusiness use cases are among the biggest contributors of AI\u2019s rapid growth; the\nmoney from corporations who see the benefits of using AI as part of their workflows\nis pushing the development of artificial intelligence applications forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those studying\nbusiness intelligence, there are plenty of new opportunities to explore in\nartificial intelligence. Strong technical and analytical skills are needed to\nsucceed in this field, but these are skills that can be mastered and sharpened\nas you pursue a degree in business intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar to data\nscientists, it is up to business intelligence specialists to train AIs how to\nmine relevant data, the sources AI systems need to tap into, how to process the\nacquired data, and of course how to generate valuable insights at the end of\nthe process. Business intelligence developers will primarily work with other\nindustries in implementing AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big Data Architecture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some universities are\nbeginning to introduce programs in big data and data architecture, and there is\na good reason for this move. The market is in need of capable data architects\nwho can structure raw data, create an efficient data mining and storing\nprocesses, and integrate the big data architecture with AI-based systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the surface, the\nfield of big data architecture looks similar to data science, but there is a\nfundamental difference between the two. A program in big data architecture\nfocuses more on the ecosystem used by AI-based systems to operate optimally\nrather than the actual process of mining and storing data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means big data\narchitects are responsible for creating the perfect environment for AI-based\nsystems to run optimally. In a market as competitive as today, the role also\ncomes with the responsibility of keeping the entire ecosystem efficient,\nespecially in terms of setup and running costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Started<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can enter the field of artificial intelligence<\/a> by pursuing a degree in any of these fields.\nThere are other fields worth looking into as well, including AI research and\nrobotics. Regardless of the field you want to focus on, you need to enroll on some\nbasic courses, including those in engineering, physics, computer science and\nprogramming languages, Bayesian networking, and advanced math.\n\nThese skills will be\ncrucial in your career as an AI specialist. They are also essential to your\nsuccess in acquiring a relevant degree to get your career started. Here\u2019s the\ngood news: there is no better time to start than today. The field of artificial\nintelligence will continue to grow for years to come, and starting with a\ncareer in this field puts you in the perfect spot to succeed. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regardless of the field you want to focus on, you need to enroll on some basic courses, including those in engineering, physics, computer science and programming languages, Bayesian networking, and advanced math. These skills will be crucial in your career as an AI specialist. They are also essential to your success in acquiring a relevant degree to get your career started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":34746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,26],"tags":[853,3952,96],"class_list":["post-34745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-opinions","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-robotics","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}