(Note: I asked this yesterday and it got deleted for some reason, so I am trying again).
I have been an SWE for about 10 years, in my early 30s now. I make good money in this profession (in Europe). I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science.
I am wondering if now is a good time to get a master's degree in CS (focusing on AI). I have taken lots of AI courses on Coursera and can build neural nets to accomplish non-trivial problems, but my AI foundation is not great.
The reason I am conflicted about a degree is because I am not sure if my work post-degree would actually change or if it would truly open more doors for me. I even work at an AI-focused company, but the AI "thinking" work is always outsourced to researchers/Ph.Ds in the field.
My job as a software engineer is to be an executor/implementer of the models they come up with. If I had a solid grasp of AI, but remained a programmer, would my job prospects change? To be clear, I do not want to become a researcher -- I prefer the software side of things.
But I don't know what an SWE with a solid AI foundation even works on. How is the work different from that of an SWE without the AI foundation?
I have been an SWE for about 10 years, in my early 30s now. I make good money in this profession (in Europe). I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science.
I am wondering if now is a good time to get a master's degree in CS (focusing on AI). I have taken lots of AI courses on Coursera and can build neural nets to accomplish non-trivial problems, but my AI foundation is not great.
The reason I am conflicted about a degree is because I am not sure if my work post-degree would actually change or if it would truly open more doors for me. I even work at an AI-focused company, but the AI "thinking" work is always outsourced to researchers/Ph.Ds in the field.
My job as a software engineer is to be an executor/implementer of the models they come up with. If I had a solid grasp of AI, but remained a programmer, would my job prospects change? To be clear, I do not want to become a researcher -- I prefer the software side of things.
But I don't know what an SWE with a solid AI foundation even works on. How is the work different from that of an SWE without the AI foundation?