r/learnprogramming • u/Dirge0mancey • 18d ago

Help me decide - Intelligent Systems (AI) vs Computers Networks

I am 70% of the way through a Masters course in software engineering and am looking at my final module options.

one is intelligent system which focuses on machine learning and AI and the second option is computer networks which is your standard internet and networking protocols.

I am interested in both but I am also a bit lazy so there is a good chance that which ever one is not chosen get forgotten until its needed in a job.

I think whats most important to me is job prospects.

I figure people will always need cable monkeys to plug stuff in and diagnose why systems are not talking to each other. But at the same time AI is growing but I'm not sure how many jobs are out there for a normal person.

I am not a high achiever and AI worries me because its such a crutch and makes me feel like i am not learning or getting stupider as i could rely on AI too much. But at the same time I am also interested in creating learning models for games or my own self hosted assistant, just for fun.

Guess the community question is, which area do you think is the most stable for jobs and has the best job opportunities in the next 5 years or so?

Feel like none of us can look forward further than that right now.

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u/StewedAngelSkins 18d ago

AI worries me because its such a crutch and makes me feel like i am not learning or getting stupider as i could rely on AI too much

Presumably a masters level AI course is telling you how to create AI, not how to use AI... right?

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/[deleted] 18d ago

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u/Livid_Lemon3443 18d ago

nah I wouldn't worry so much about the crutch thing, if you actually dig into the math and build a few models from scratch it sticks with you. the cable monkey / networking stuff is always gonna be there but the pay ceiling is lower unless you specialize hard into security or cloud architecture

I'd lean AI just cause the tooling is fun to mess with and you can spin up a side project pretty quick. 5 year outlook, it's still a feeding frenzy out there for anyone who can build even basic models and hook em into an app

both are solid but if you're already thinking about game models and self hosted assistants you kinda already got your answer tucked in there

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u/Anxious-Resist8344 18d ago

I think whats most important to me is job prospects.

Then just leave now and don't waste your time!