When Goldman Sachs issued a report recently that estimated artificial intelligence could replace 300 million jobs around the world, doomsday headlines quickly appeared. But experts at FIU’s College of Engineering and Computing were quick to put the news in perspective. They say that AI has the potential to increase productivity and actually create new tech jobs never imagined before ― and they are preparing their students for leadership roles in the industry.
“It’s a magical time in history for our students,” says Steven Luis, the college’s executive director for technology. “We are at the beginning of the AI wave and those who jump on that wave right now are going to reap the benefits and rewards.”
While Luis recognizes the concerns about AI and understands the challenges and pitfalls that come with any new technology, he believes that there will continue to be plenty of career opportunities for students graduating from university computer and engineering programs, as well as for those already established in the field.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics agrees, projecting job growth of 25-35 percent in the next decade in occupations including data scientists, information security analysts, statisticians, software developers and other related fields.
There are literally thousands of computer technology job openings posted on any given day from San Francisco to Boston to Mumbai. For example, as of mid-July, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, was searching for a research scientist for machine learning, a software engineer for product development and a manager for science deployment, all paying $200,000 and above. Microsoft was seeking a data annotation specialist, Anthropic listed a job for a prompt engineer and librarian and Geico had an opening for a natural language processing position. Amazon had 112 open jobs in its machine learning science division.
“These are real positions, paying real salaries with real companies. And they are hiring FIU grads,” Luis says.
One of those is Samira Pouyanfar, who received her doctorate in computer science at FIU in 2019. Today she is a senior data and applied scientist at Microsoft.
“At FIU, and specifically in the lab, I learned how to lead projects and supervise junior students and how to do research and be independent while working in a team. I learned many technical details in my area,” Pouyanfar says of subjects such as deep learning and AI, “and so I was confident during my interview at Microsoft, showing both my technical and soft skills.”
Read the full article at https://news.fiu.edu/2023/will-ai-take-your-job-not-for-those-who-embrace-it.