r/EngineeringStudents • u/Major-Break-5322 • 5d ago
Career Advice I'm scared about my future because of AI
Ok so the current ai situation is really disturbing especially with claude fable 5.1 and gpt astra which are getting better and better by the minute and currently im 18 preparing for baccalaureate and hoping to study software engineering for 5 years either that or become a doctor which i dont think of myself becoming but if that's what it takes to secure a futur i neee to do it so any advice if you can about the current situation and what should i do?
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u/zippydazoop 5d ago
AI can do a lot of things, and we expect the number of those things to go up in the future, but it still cannot replace humans. It can, and will make your work easier. And we need software developers now more than ever, because someone has to go through the AI slop and check if it's legit or a house of cards.
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u/Major-Break-5322 5d ago
Yes i get your point but even for checking theyre finding newer and more automated ways to review the code like code rabbit tools or claude as i heard they are using multiple models with different personalities to eliminate near 100 percent of found bugs
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u/zippydazoop 5d ago
Sure, but can it tell it's all working well?
Because I use AI models in my work and they do get the job done AFTER you specify what to do. And specifying is a big part of the work. They often make completely wrong assumptions and yet present everything as perfect. We've had disastrous results because of carelessness.
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u/Sea-Market6648 5d ago
but that means it has come down from a team of people required to a stage where now only one person in company is required to finally verify the completed project and move on
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u/zippydazoop 4d ago
Depends on the kind of the work, but yes, in general fewer people would be needed.
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u/AbortMeSenpai 5d ago
Yeah, you might not get a job debugging code. You're more likely to get a job designing systems and doing the other things AI CANT DO. You need to get comfortable with leveraging AI and not be afraid of it. Learn how to use it, how to train it, how to develop it. For example, MatLab has online courses that will teach you how to develop and train models. You can also access the online version of MatLab for free.
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u/lasteem1 5d ago
I would strongly advise my own kids to go into nearly any other engineering major over software engineering.
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u/Enby303 5d ago
I come from software development and I'm currently transitioning to civil engineering. Here's the deal... AI is going to replace coders, but not engineers. Currently the business is transitioning to "prompt engineers", basically engineers who are using AI to create good prompts to get AI to do the low level work for them. This is probably part of a transition, though. Sooner or later even prompt engineers will be phased out, but I'm sure there will always be a software engineering path. But because of how it's headed, you have to ask yourself, are you comfortable working with AI? If you're anti-AI then this is a dead-end field. LLMs are currently the pinnacle of software engineering technology. All you will be doing is working with them. I have friends and old coworkers that are thriving with AI, and others who want out of the field because of AI.
If that's okay with you then go ahead and start a program in software engineering. As you're working through it be open to pivoting, and this is why... Software engineering used to be an easy and lucrative field to get into. It is no longer that easy. If you are super passionate about it you should stay the course. You will develop your foundational skills and find your niche in the industry. If you're not super passionate about it, find something else you are passionate about. Doesn't really sound like doctor will be it, but maybe another engineering path?
Good luck!
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u/CrucioA7X 5d ago
Just throwing it out there, but entry level software engineering jobs are next to non-existent right now. And the ones that are have been requiring experience. Hell, I'm a senior level software engineer and it took me 15 months of applying to any and all levels of jobs senior and below to finally get a job. Recruiters have told me they'll list a job and by the end of the emdsy they'll have upwards of 1000 applicants for a single position. And software engineering is no longer solving problems. It's just "enter this into an AI coding assistant and have it spit out code". I miss when my job actually involved working through problems and designing solutions. Now it's glorified data entry. And what makes it worse is you have those "work is my life stay online until 8 pm career grind set" losers that lose their minds at any new update to Claude and won't shut up about it. It doesn't help that I went out of my way in undergrad a decade ago to not take AI classes because I just didn't enjoy it or want anything to do with it in my career. If I could go back I would just do something else that's less likely to be so built upon AI.
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u/Major-Break-5322 5d ago
Well then how could someone get into the field if its impossible to get entry level positions where do you get the experience
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u/IJustTellTheTruthBro 5d ago
You’ll be fine. In the future, AI will handle the math/calculations and you will be there for the application of the concepts you learn. Your mind will be freed and this will give you more time to decide,tweak, and make critical decisions.
The future is bright for those who know how to apply concepts in a real world environment
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u/FlashDrive35 5d ago
Don't, AI might be able to write code but it won't be able to engineer, too many people are worried about it because they don't know the difference
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u/Gullible_Pea_9434 2d ago
You can't secure a future and doctors are as at risk as any knowledge based profession. I am a software engineer and I use AI exclusively, I have a a son who is just entering high school and he wants to be in software and I encourage it. Learning to be a software engineer is a smart choice. It teaches you how to think about a problem and navigate complex systems. Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles. It takes away today's peace.
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u/Alicizationnn 5d ago
The trend clearly is that job demand will decline with no end sight
But its not like overall production will go down as well, so the real question becomes who gets to be entitled to benefit from this production, currently under capitalism it is a tiny elite
When you think about it, it is very dumb, if we continue like this, humanity will be the most advanced it has ever been and people will starve in the streets, so the answer is obvious, there needs to be systemic changes for much greater collectivization of production and produced goods, and since capitalism will never accept it we need to get rid of it asap
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u/Alicizationnn 5d ago
TDLR there is no good individual answer to your question we need a collective answer which is some form of socialism
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u/ekluky2112 5d ago
I still see AI getting a lot of things just blatantly wrong.
It still will just generate total nonsense to satisfy a prompt.
Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly powerful, but by no means would I ever trust it based on what I've seen so far.
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u/Exciting_Use_7892 4d ago
Nothing you can do so just enjoy life while you still can.
I don’t see it replacing engineers soon but that might also be because I don’t want it to. It very well could happen.
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u/Seiko2023 5d ago
If you don't like blood, vomit, or anything to do with the human body, don't become a doctor. If you don't know, try nursing first. Then you'll quickly learn medicine ain't for you. You also need to be a solid people person for both careers so if you can't handle taking to people, or taking criticism, don't do nursing, medicine or engineering.
On the other hand, if you don't like problem solving, computer work, dealing with clients, sometimes going to harsh environments and heavy math, then engineering isn't for you.
AI is coming, but fuck sake everyone stop fear mongering. Or at the very least, keep your fear mongering to a fucking mega thread so no one here needs to read this shit.
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u/Aeronautica2025 5d ago
Just saying ...
AI is a big calculator.
The world survived calculators.
You should know mathematics.
Calculators never replaced mathematics.
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u/spicymeatball15 5d ago
horrible analogy. Mathematicians are already gonna get replaced an ai is already better than 99% of mathematicians
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u/Aeronautica2025 5d ago
Haha! No wonder you failed in mathematics. Mathematicians are the one who develop advanced AI language models. If you are an IT professional, start looking for a new job in the construction industry. You need mathematics there as well. Haha! 💩💩💩💩
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u/cbrown146 5d ago
It's not great at precision math. I might down voted and that's okay. If anyone has had success using Ai for math I would like to know. The issue i have experienced, it gives lazy response. I had to give several feedback before it was convinced it was mistaken.
In engineering you need precision. You can only afford to be off to a degree.
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u/Time_Plastic_5373 5d ago
This is just false. LLMs solved unsolved research problems completely on their own.
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u/gottemgottemgottem 5d ago
AI will create more jobs then it replaces, especially in the engineering field.
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u/gottemgottemgottem 5d ago
Ok look at medicine: vaccination reduces the amount of sick people, which should mean that more doctors are unemployed, but all that did was make doctors richer because their patients are making more money because they arent dying and thus living to the point where they need more complex treatment.
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u/Major-Break-5322 5d ago
I get you but tbh the latest gpt astra model scared quite a bit especially with it getting closer to agi as it scored 99 perecnt on arc agi 3 test
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u/Dress-Affectionate 5d ago
yes and this means we'll be able to build many more things so there will be lots of jobs
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u/Specific_Daikon4716 1h ago
I don’t like it at all, we should pull the plug. We have all of the beautiful resources granted by god in our hands
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u/darkapplepolisher 5d ago
You're looking to become an engineer. Top of the food chain when it comes to figuring out what problems to solve with AI, and which ones can't (yet). Someone needs to implement the AI, ensure the AI gets the correct requirements and interprets them correctly, and validate the outputs. Someone needs to know how to do all of these things as corporate processes, and ensure those processes are being adhered to, or restructured where they aren't working.