Do you need an advanced degree to work with "cooler" things like AI and Machine Learning?
19 04 Nov 2015 00:26 by u/lolfzz
Will someone with an undergrad ever get to work with advanced algorithms like the ones above without going to grad school?
19 04 Nov 2015 00:26 by u/lolfzz
Will someone with an undergrad ever get to work with advanced algorithms like the ones above without going to grad school?
5 comments
2 u/nice_tie 04 Nov 2015 00:44
Most importantly, how are your math skills? If you want to work in advanced algorithms, be prepared to use that calc 4, advanced set theory, linear algebra, and all the other things for which you weren't sure you'd find a use.
As for your question, it really depends on what you want to do. If you just want to do basic machine learning, it's fairly easy to pick up R or Scikit-Learn and start entering Kaggle competitions. If you want to work on the cutting edge of machine learning and artificial intelligence, you typically need significant contributions to the field, an advanced degree, or (preferably) both. Fortunately, the OMSCS program at Georgia Tech is pretty cheap (~$6k - $7k total) and is surprisingly rigorous.
1 u/eraptic 04 Nov 2015 05:56
A bit stunned stats and probabilities wasn't added onto the math skills sections. Arguably a larger part of machine learning, particularly for neural networks
0 u/nice_tie 05 Nov 2015 08:25
Yes, stats! They're extremely important for machine learning and AI as well. I erroneously omitted states because it's on the easier end of the math difficulty scale and was more obviously useful (kind of like algebra), somewhat contrary to the list provided in my previous comment. Stats generally provide a base that's used as part of more complex calculations like in Kalman/Particle Filtering, error/confidence computation, randomized optimization, and Bayesian learning. I'd also like to add that ML/AI is not just difficult..it's awesome.
1 u/Drenki 04 Nov 2015 02:12
I have an undergraduate degree and my education included these topics (even had a big project on machine learning). I would only consider them "advanced" in that they are a step up from the more common data structures and algorithms.
Now, if you want to be able to understand the gibberish language used in research papers, you will either want to go into grad school or just tough out the needlessly inflated language.
0 u/Project2501 04 Nov 2015 02:38
Undergrads can work summer internships with the advanced robotics/machine learning/big data research groups on campus. If you are willing to do the work, the readings, and most importantly the time, you can compete in competitions, or build hobbyist projects. Most applied AI is found within games, and an undergrad degree + skill/completed projects will get you further then a masters + no experience outside academia. Hell, with enough experience in security, you might be one to write white papers like this one. 0x00 is right on the money with their advice.
That all being said, if you want to work with the more abstract, theoretical algorithms, and resources, there is a reason why grad school is a major option. There are more labs, other students/researchers/profs that are all part of the support network, as well as a strong competitive undercurrent that keeps everyone looking up to date on the most recent papers, and tech, to make an impression, first or sustained, in the field.