How to become an AI engineer

2 February

Whether it's the recommendation page of YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, self-driven cars of Tesla, assistants like Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa and face recognition on smartphones, AI can be seen in almost any digital internet-based industry. 

Like other technologies, AI also needs engineers and developers for initial development. With the growing popularity of AI (definitely the future), so are AI engineers. If you have a background related to programming, IT or want detailed knowledge of AI engineers, this article might be helpful for you.

In this article, we've written an ultimate guide on becoming an AI engineer, AI engineer salary, what AI engineers do.

What is artificial intelligence (AI)

In simple language, AI is the ability of the computer to think like humans. It's a simulation of human intelligence performed by machines. Humans have intelligence; our minds can process different thoughts and situations depending on the situation. It doesn't run a specific script.

However, computers aren't like that. They have no intelligence and are only based on the scripts provided by the developer. But, artificial intelligence has intelligence like we humans. They are intelligent and can create different tasks and decisions independently without any human help.

In one line, it's a computer that can think and make decisions on its own like a human's brain.

The main purpose of AI is mentioned below:

• To create a computer algorithm that can make small decisions on its own, you don't need to hire human employees for those tasks.
• To perform dynamic jobs based on the software and digital basis.
• To recreate the human mind by simulating computers. So the computer can solve dynamic problems that a regular script-based computer can't do.

What is an AI engineer?

In ideal cases, the AI is capable of building and improving itself. However, in the initial stage, it requires the developers and engineers to design the base model of AI.

Like any other computer program, AI has the same developing process but is more complicated than a regular script-based computer program.

AI engineer job description

Here are some bullet points on what does an ai engineer do:

• AI engineers first identify the problem their system is facing and design a model of AI that can solve that problem.
• They collect the data and research material provided by the researchers to help them know what kind of AI algorithm their system needs.
• They finally code the AI algorithm and test it. At that stage, the AI is like a newborn baby.
• The engineers train the AI algorithm. It's a dynamic program since it doesn't run a specific script. Therefore, engineers train AI to make decisions and process things independently without any human help. 
• After the launch of AI for usage, it still needs to be updated. Without updates and future training, the AI algorithm will collapse.

Note: Engineers usually use graphical or state statement-basement based data to teach AI how to make decisions and solve problems when in use.

AI engineer salary

Many readers wonder how much does an ai engineer makes. So before we dive into how to become an artificial intelligence engineer, let's look at the salary side of this job. In terms of salary, the AI industry is one of the highest-paying occupations in the world. The average salary of an AI engineer is even higher than the salary of a specialized doctor, data scientist, and lawyer.

The salary, of course, depends on your country, your role in the job, the company's value, your skills, etc. Any job's salary is dynamic and depends on the above factors.

However, the 75,000$- 150,000$  figure is an estimate that we've calculated based on the average salaries we've found from the world's leading job platforms: Indeed, Glassdoor and LinkedIn. 

How to find an AI engineer job

If you're an AI engineer, you might be looking for a job related to your AI field to utilize your skills and degree.

Currently, AI isn't a typical job. It is one of the highest-paying jobs, but very few industries and companies use AI in their business. 

If your university or college is good and has a good market standard, then you might get offers even before your degree is done. If not, you might consider applying for jobs.

Factors that affect the salary in AI engineering job:

Currency value and Inflation

The most significant factor that affects your salary is your country's currency value and inflation rate. Developed countries such as the USA, China, Russia, Germany, and Saudi Arabia usually offer the highest average salary compared to other countries. Because their currency has a high value, and inflation is low.

Supply and demand

Another critical factor in an AI Engineering job is the supply and demand chain. It refers to the % or ratio between the demand of AI engineers and the availability of engineers.

• If the demand is higher for engineers, then, of course, the salary will be higher.
• If the supply is higher than the demand, the salary will be lower.

Experience and skills

These two factors also affect your salary as an AI engineer. More experience = more skills = higher salary. Especially in the engineering field, experience is the top priority over education for most companies. On average, companies pay about 115,000$ to an AI engineer who has experience of about 2-3 years. But again, it's the estimated figure only.

AI engineer career path

AI engineer requirements

The essential qualification and requirements for this job are always dependent on the company. If the company is worth billions of dollars, then, of course, their requirements and experience will be higher. Similarly, if it's a medium-scale company, the employer will moderate their requirements and experience demand according to the market.

However, a general requirement for a fresh AI engineer is a bachelor's degree in a related field to computer and tech such as IT, software engineering, computer science, data analysis, computer engineering, etc. 

If the company's salary and value are high, they may demand a postgraduate degree in the relevant field of AI according to their job.

How long does it take to become an AI engineer? 

According to sources and research on different websites, it takes about at least -8 years for a person to become a professional senior AI engineer.

However, for starting as a fresh graduate, you only need to complete an essential bachelor's degree in the related field of AI, as mentioned above. It'll only take about four years to complete a base graduate. 

After the base graduate, you can apply for AI job positions for fresh graduates. The company might train and teach you the roles of your job. 

While you're doing the job, you can continue the postgraduate program for further study in the AI field. A postgraduate degree and experience of about four years can earn you a seat as a senior front-end AI engineer.

How to become an AI engineer | brief steps 

Earn degree

AI engineering is a professional job that requires a paper degree. You can't become an AI engineer based on the certificates and experience. You must earn an essential four yeards bachelor's degree in the fields we told you above.

Train yourself and gain experience

AI engineering is a branch of coding, primarily dependent on experience and skills. To earn experience and skills, you might consider doing small-scale programming jobs that involve artificial intelligence. However, the most important language for AI is Python.

Apply and Start your Job Through Career

Now, all you need to do is to start applying for jobs. For a better and more efficient response, you might consider using Career. An online job finder where all you'll do is upload your CV and job details, and the companies will send you the proposal for the interview.

You can select your preferred proposals and even talk with the employer without any middle-man. Moreover, Career doesn't charge any advance commission. You'll only pay when you get hired from the Careery's reference.