Skip to content

Thoughts on AI

As you know, AI or artificial intelligence is taking over the world like a storm — from smart assistants to autonomous vehicles to robots in factories. It is one of the most powerful technologies we have ever created.

But what does that mean for us, CS students? How has it changed, and what will it change in the future?

Quick Recap

Before Covid-19
- Steady growth with traditional roles; big tech hiring many developers per team.
- Focus on on-premises infrastructure and enterprise HQs in major cities.
- Competitive but stable job market with clear career paths.

During Covid-19
- Rapid shift to remote work across industries.
- Massive demand for cloud infrastructure and collaboration tools like Slack and Zoom.

Post Covid-19
- Accelerated digital transformation with AI tools replacing some jobs, leading to layoffs.
- Tech giants’ growth slowed as in-person activities resumed.
- Job market more competitive; higher experience and skill demands for similar roles.

What is AI?

For me, in simple terms, AI is a function that tries to capture patterns generated by data—such as your writing style, your preferred taste in music, or your daily routine.

In more advanced cases like computer vision or natural language processing, it’s essentially a complex mathematical model that learns and improves over time based on human feedback—learning from experts.

What It Means for Computer Science Students

Software engineering is not just about writing code or building models. It’s a long process that touches many aspects. For example, building a website or AI application involves more than just coding. Coding might take only about 30% of the time, while the other 70% involves planning, purchasing cloud computing resources, designing databases, deploying the system, revising based on customer feedback, and effectively communicating with colleagues across departments.

Future Prospects of AI

This technology is evolving rapidly and promises to reshape many industries and aspects of daily life. Key trends include:

  • AI Integration: Embedded in almost every device and service—from healthcare to education and smart cities.
  • Human-AI Collaboration: AI will augment human capabilities, enabling more creativity and efficiency.
  • Ethical and Regulatory Focus: Growing emphasis on fairness, transparency, and responsible AI use.
  • New Job Roles: Emerging roles like AI ethicist, data curator, and explainability specialist alongside developers.

For CS students, this means developing not only technical skills but also understanding AI’s societal impact and collaborating across fields like economics, physics, and social sciences.

Standing Out in the Age of AI

With AI automating many routine tasks, the question is: How do you stay relevant? or Will AI replace me?

The answer is continuous learning and adaptability. Stand out by:

  • Building deep expertise in a niche area, such as reinforcement learning or embedded AI systems.
  • Developing strong problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
  • Gaining hands-on experience with real projects and open-source contributions.
  • Cultivating soft skills like communication, leadership, and ethical reasoning.

AI is a tool — and those who use it creatively will shape the future. As long as you keep growing and adapting, there will always be a place for you.

Tips

Remember, at the end of the day, humans still make the final decisions. Having good networking will definitely help. Most jobs are secured or introduced internally before going public. So instead of competing with 100 applicants, why not compete with only a few — or even get a job before it becomes public?

Good luck and wish you the best!