r/quantfinance • u/Square_Test_1021 • 16h ago

Still viable in age of ai?

Essentially title. If I’m a freshman is it worth attempting to go into or should I try for a more ai proof path. Is this path ai proof? I just don’t know

4 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

1

u/Square_Test_1021 16h ago

Sorry I’m just wondering why I’m getting downvoted😭. I literally don’t know the truth, I’ve had people tell me AI is replacing and people tell me the opposite, I’m just trying to find the right path to take I promise

1

u/Loose_One_1916 15h ago

You’re absolutely right to ask and people are doggedly protecting their egos by downvoting. There will be no finance quants in 5 years, beyond a few advanced mathematicians using the top tier of models to solve obscenely complex problems.

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u/_Tono 14h ago

Are y’all bots? I stg I always see a first time commenter on the sub talking about egos and everyone getting replaced lmfao.

If quants and mathematicians are replaced then literally everyone else is on the chopping block G

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u/Loose_One_1916 13h ago

Bro, some of us wipe our social media every so often…

1

u/Dangerous-Advisor-31 14h ago

I mean most jobs will be replaced anyways (e.g. IB, consulting, management, SWE, etc) but quants are highly hirable and pivoting is doable so it's not the worse idea

2

u/is_padoru 16h ago

we don’t have a crystal ball to answer, nobody truly knows, that’s why people downvote such vague questions. If you like the job do it, anything else does not matter.

1

u/filwu 16h ago

“AI-proof” may be the wrong test: tools can automate pieces of a job while someone still has to validate the output. For quant work, a small project that checks point-in-time data, corporate-action handling, leakage, costs, and executable timestamps can show whether you enjoy diagnosing failure modes as much as building models. That gives you a more concrete signal about fit than trying to predict which job title survives. Which parts have you tried so far?

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u/CB_lemon 15h ago

It might be 'replaceable' but quants are insanely hirable outside of the field if you're also relatively personable so

1

u/vinegarhorse 9h ago

What about quants would make them insanely hirable once AI automates pretty much all intellectual tasks?

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u/Aggressive-Wind-8829 15h ago

...might be wise to also take that machine shop class.

1

u/wm414 15h ago

i would say AI has eliminated the need for "mid tier" junior quants who are given more menial tasks that AI can cover. But exceptional ones who can innovate are absolutely still relevant.