The UK sees new AI startups forming almost every week, so keep your options open and keep an eye on AI careers. Whatever you do, build your digital skills. Stay ready.
In lots of ways it’s a pretty exciting time to be a young person thinking about next career steps. With AI careers on the rise, there’s a good chance your parents won’t be able to understand when you explain what you do for a living, but at least they’ll be impressed with the money you’re bringing in.
Alexa, what is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Artificial intelligence is all about machines that behave like people, always learning and looking for new ways to be better at what they do. Take Amazon’s Alexa, for example. You can ask Alexa to “play my favourite song” and Alexa will make a pretty good guess based on music you’ve asked it to play in the past. Conversational AI makes machines talk to us in useful and even friendly ways, using conversation quirks and getting better every day at understanding what we need based on how we use our AI machines over time.
AI isn’t just a gift to the world of everyday living and entertainment, though. It’s changing the world of health and travel, to name just a few areas where AI is already making a difference to how we live. In fact, the UK is already a world leader in AI, with a new AI start-up forming almost every week.
Even if you don’t picture yourself in a techie career, you’re likely to be affected by AI in any job you do in the next few years. Why stand against the waves when you can swim in them like a dolphin and go with the flow?
Digital skills are for everyone, and if you’re one of the 72% of young people polled by the Department for Business who said they’d like to know more about careers in AI, here are some things it’s good to know:
- The UK Government sees AI as one of four top areas for growth, and wants the UK to lead the pack with its Industrial Strategy
- AI jobs are very mixed and diverse in a flavour to suit your background, interests and abilities
- AI jobs help people care better for the sick, spot and treat diseases more quickly in better ways, improve how we use energy efficiently, help people get information that genuinely matches their interests and so much more.
- AI is expected to bring in £232 billion to the economy by 2030, and create 58 million jobs worldwide
- There are more than 2 million jobs already available in the UK’s digital tech economy.
- Thinking about higher education? The Government’s new industry funded AI Masters programme will kick off with at least 200 new AI Masters students in September 2019, expanding to include more students every year.
- Government is also supporting work towards an extra 200 doctoral studentships in AI and related disciplines a year By 2025, there will be at least 1,000 Government supported PhD places at any one time.
10 top AI-related careers you could get into right now
The National Careers Service has listed 10 of the hottest jobs for the next decade, many of which will be shaped in some way by AI:
- Data analyst-statistician: Identify trends, create models, collect numerical information and present results.
- AI expert: Design machines that simulate human intelligence.
- Marketing executive: Promote a company’s products, services or brand.
- Software developer: Design, build and test computer programs.
- User experience (UX) designer: Create websites, apps and software.
- Robotics engineer: Design robotic systems.
- Human resources officer: Hire employees, help to develop their careers and look after employee relations, benefits and welfare.
- Investment analyst: Help stock market traders, stockbrokers and fund managers make investment decisions.
- Cyber intelligence officer: Gather information about where threats to IT systems come from and how they work.
- Social media manager: Communicate with organisations’ customers and clients through social media channels.
Whatever you want to do in life, keep building your digital skills and take a look at what’s out there. The future is coming, so keep your options open and keep an eye on AI careers. Stay ready.
