There could be no better time than now to jump into the field of artificial intelligence. AI is safely past its infancy and poised to experience a major boom as industries worldwide incorporate it into their business models. Intelligent automation and self-propagating machine learning models have many applications in business – but may also put some workers out of a job.
If you’re concerned about automation threatening your job (or even if you’re just fascinated by computers), a great solution is to pursue a certification in artificial intelligence. This credential has a wide range of applications in virtually every industry, so the jobs are plentiful and lucrative.
Stick with us to learn more about the present and future of artificial intelligence and the best way to become an artificial intelligence certified specialist.
Artificial Intelligence Basics
Artificial intelligence is when a computer or software package is designed to think and behave like the human mind. It’s done by studying human thought patterns and analyzing data about the cognitive process. Of course, it is an imperfect science as no robot can think exactly like a human – we will always be somewhat unpredictable.
However, AI is now able to perform sophisticated tasks like playing chess, driving a car, and recognizing and translating speech.
There are several types of AI. Purely reactive machines observe an action and perform one in response. These machines generally don’t have internal memory and specialize in one task. Other AI units have limited memory and can learn to make increasingly better decisions based on user input.
The future of AI is intelligent, sentient, conscious machines that can understand human emotion. This type of machine has yet to be built and there are moral implications to pushing artificial intelligence in this direction.
How Artificial Intelligence is Used
We are already seeing AI at work in our world. Tesla’s self-driving car is one example. It may one day be able to predict where its passengers want to go based on their past pattern of behavior.
The computer that once won Jeopardy, called Watson, was developed by IBM for use in the medical field. It assists doctors by quickly reviewing massive amounts of data to suggest appropriate treatment for patients based on their medical history and other factors.
But many uses of AI are less flashy. For instance, consumers use it all the time when they interact with online customer support. AI is always at work behind the scenes in the banking industry to detect fraud. And if you have a digital assistant at home – Google, Siri, Cortana, or Alexa – you also use AI.
In the future, we may have fully automated transportation, personal assistance robots, and machines that can perform risky tasks like defusing a bomb.
Becoming Certified in Artificial Intelligence
If you’re ready to earn your certification in this exciting field, there are several specialties you can pursue. However, it’s best to start with an introductory course that provides an overview of artificial intelligence and the ways it can be used in business. Along with that you get a solid basis in AI workflows and performance metrics so that you can both design and evaluate AI applications.
Moving deeper into the subject, one popular specialty is machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence concerned with enabling computers to automate data and learn through experience. Machine learning allows computers to perform tasks without explicit programming to guide them. In this course, you undertake a combination of book learning and hands-on modeling.
Those who hope to hold high level positions in AI might want to consider a Master’s course, which offers comprehensive training on everything needed to lead within the industry, from programming languages to deep learning (a subset of machine learning).
A further avenue for exploration is an internship or mentoring program that gets you into an office to experience AI at work and receive guidance from those who are already successful in the industry. You will need to have earned a certification in AI to be eligible.
Where to Get Certified
There are a great number of AI certification courses online. Start with the website Coursera to browse offerings from big name schools like Stanford, Northwestern, and Columbia. Microsoft also offers an AI certification and it’s basically free – though you will need to shell out $99 at the end if you want a “verified” certificate.
It’s also possible to take AI classes within the scope of a technology degree on a college campus, including MIT, UCLA, Ohio State, and Yale, among many others. If you already have a Bachelor’s degree, you can push through with a Master’s or simply attend for your AI certification.
Artificial intelligence is not going anywhere, and AI knowledge is increasingly important to all of the major tech companies when it comes to their hiring decisions. An AI certificate can also increase your earning potential, with the average employee in this field bringing in $135,000 per year. With plenty of options in courses and the chance to be an integral part of the future of AI, this is a career path that deserves serious consideration!