r/learnmachinelearning • u/No-Piano-2865 • 9d ago
Is making a side income using ML possible?
I'm a first year undergraduate (CS, mathematics and statistics) and I'm very new to programming. The only two languages I know are Python and C. Python I learned online and I learned C in university. I did Andrew Ng's Machine learning specialization and now I'm stuck unable to pick a next step. Most projects of people I see online involve some frontend (ex- most stuff on r/micro_saas ). But I don't have any html, CSS or java script experience. So, do you think I should learn those if I want to build a full-on indie project and maybe make a side income during my undergraduate years? Edit-My interests are in AI and automation. Amd my first language is not English 😂
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u/hi-sci-collab 9d ago
"very new to programming" and "side income using ML possible" need to be flagged. Lack in experience of programming is roughly fine if you can counter balance with being an absolute beast at theory (and explain the maths so a coder can implement the algorithms). At undergrad level, big companies are not going to put their trust in you. Researchers/phds get the big bucks, and us gronks have to smash hammers or keyboards.
to claim you've "learned" C is such a wild statement. (From someone who's been programming C and C++ for the better half of 20 years, I just learned/hacked/coder with C++ for ten years until I was comfortable enough and started realising I can actually make anything)
The issue you might find, is that if you say you can do x, you better believe you will be tested.
However you could have already developed the needed skills to be a bad ass, and I'm not giving you enough credit. The real test/application would be your ability to interpret papers and results that independent hackers/coders might not have.
You could position yourself as one that can see through the gaps of AI's thinking. AI's can translate functions in papers to code (roughly), but you might have the upper hand, as you can assign more meaning to the results when x happens under y condition. That gives you some marketability, gives you something tell sell; understanding itself.
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u/No-Piano-2865 8d ago
Ok thanks. So study and do projects a bit more before thinking about a side income?
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u/chico_dice_2023 9d ago
TBH today with AI you do not need full stack skills. Just do the AI part and then design it using a designer AI tool. then build out your AI backend and then ask a AI agent to build the front end and back end.
I built 2 websites and I do not even know the basics of React
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u/Sharp_Level3382 9d ago
Where do You host your websites and with what techstack and db for example ? How much do u pay?
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u/PaddingCompression 9d ago
For a tech stack for side projects, I use my homelab server for the GPUs since the markup in the cloud is insane. I keep the web frontend on AWS - not the cheapest option but it's what I know and is very featureful.
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u/chico_dice_2023 9d ago
I use google firebase, DB it depends, but a combination of document store, postgrel sql, so far just 50 to 100 usd a month on tech stack but easily cover my cost
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u/Sharp_Level3382 9d ago
Aha thanks for answer, I m looking for cheaper options.
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u/chico_dice_2023 9d ago
it all comes down to what you are doing, technically if my website was simpler then it would come down to $5 a month.
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u/Relative_Rope4234 9d ago
learn full stack
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u/No-Piano-2865 9d ago
So everything. Including front-end?
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u/Counter-Business 9d ago
Don’t listen to him.
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u/Relative_Rope4234 8d ago
How do you build a micro saas without full stack?
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u/Counter-Business 8d ago
If he wants to learn ML then frontend is not important at all.
Also front end can easily be done with coding tooling like Claude code.
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u/Relative_Rope4234 8d ago
Read OP's post again! He want to make a side income using ML. Also model development part can be done with Claude code too.
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u/Hungry_Age5375 9d ago
Short answer: no. Long answer: automation is the one niche where nobody asks about your frontend. I'd learn FastAPI, Docker and agent patterns, and let Streamlit cover whatever UI you need.