Artificial intelligence: Do these words evoke images of a science fiction environment, sleek robots walking around, people freaking out, robots taking over the world, etc. Believe it or not, AI is indeed taking over the world.

It is an undeniable fact as to how this knowledge expert system has taking a shift and is invading our day to day lives. 63% of the population aren’t aware of them using AI, quoted a survey by HubSpot. We’re in a threshold of discoveries that is drastically changing human intervention. But we’re still unaware whether the changes are for better or for worse.

AI is predicted to take away working-class jobs that require manual labor. While technology is ever evolving, it is evident that we’re heading towards workforce displacement. This is already happening faster than we expected. The AI technology is going to change everything about life. Although artificial intelligence will remove mundane jobs and repetitive tasks, it will also enable people to get ready for future jobs, enabling them to learn new skills and focus more on valuable activities. Activities increasing the efficiency of an individual, skills improvement and quality, and consistency in the workplace. Many jobs that were existing a few years back will vanish due to automation. Though it may seem like an apocalypse, it is not the whole truth. A machine with artificial intelligence may take away jobs that can be completed without human intervention but at the same time, it will also create millions of jobs due to efficiencies in the economy.

We’re aware of the disruptions that this disruptive technology has been causing the industries. Call centers, agriculture, healthcare, intellectual property, energy and mining, manufacturing, IT service management, retail, and transport are some of the industries where artificial intelligence has caused disruption.

“Hot Skills” is what the industry demand from professionals in today’s IT job market. The world is changing and does the skills. Whether it’s a private bank, IT companies, e-commerce, and insurance firms, etc. they are on a verge to implement the technology in their processes. Having said, professionals with skills like machine learning, image-based analytics, NLP, chatbots, and cloud computing are in significant demand. However, there’s a huge dearth of talent as the demand outpaces the supply. Employers might face skill shortage, but this can be a great opportunity for young generations and even skilled professionals to hop on the AI bandwagon career. Those who’re warned with robots taking up their jobs are actively reskilling by getting certified and incorporating artificial intelligence certifications into their portfolio.

How can one build a career in artificial intelligence?

Indeed, a job site reveals that the demand for professionals with new age skills has spiked up to 2x times within two years. While there are plenty of jobs available for professionals with AI skills, we’re still on the lookout to fill this lacuna.

With a shortage of skills, employers will find it difficult to fill in these spaces. Taking a stroll down this career path, individuals’ must first acquire the skills. Learning paths can be different for different individuals depending on their level of understanding and skills. If you’re already a programmer and have programming skills, you can start off by taking up artificial intelligence certification. These are the kind of jobs that will help you join the AI career bandwagon.

Data Scientist

A data scientist job role entails collecting, analyzing and interpretation of large and complex datasets using machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics. Most data scientists spend 90% of their time cleaning data. Being a data science professional, one needs to be comfortable with big data tools like Pig, Spark, MapReduce, Hive, and Hadoop and be exceptionally great with computing languages and statistical languages like R, Python, SQL, and Scala, etc.

Beyond the ability of understanding data, data scientists must also demonstrate strong analytical skills and have good communication skills.

Machine Learning Engineer

Machine learning engineers responsibility involves building platforms for machine learning projects and how to manage them. They should be skilled in applying predictive models leveraging natural language processing while working with huge amounts of data.

Candidates skilled with agile development practice and are exceptionally great working with development IDE tools such as IntelliJ and Eclipse are preferred by employers these days. To be considered by such employers, candidates must possess in-depth knowledge skills in programming languages like Python, Scala, and Java. However, preference will always be given to candidates with a strong mathematics background.

Research Scientist

Individuals skilled as research scientists is often hailed as one of the most sought after skill for AI professionals. Expert professionals skilled in this domain are great with their AI skill-set such as applied mathematics, machine learning, deep learning, and computational statistics, etc. Other related skills such as parallel computing and machine learning are mostly preferred.

Business Intelligence Developer

These developers main purpose if to deal with designing, modeling, and maintaining complex data. Professionals skilled in this field are great with their technical and analytical skills. Such professionals obtain a high range of knowledge in data warehousing, SQL queries, data mining, SQL server reporting, BI technologies, and SQL server integration services, etc.

Big Data Engineer

Big data engineers are tasked with the planning, designing, and development of big data environment or platform on Spark and Hadoop. Professionals skilled in big data engineering demonstrate significant expertise in programming languages such as Python, Java, C++, and Scala. Among this, data mining, data visualization, and data migration are the other related skill-set that is crucial.

No doubt AI is going to replace jobs very soon. And as a society, if we fail to reskill and upgrade our skills, we’re going to widen the gap of low skilled professionals. Creating a culture of continuous learning through certifications is what a fast-changing environment needs today.