What is a typical day like for an AI developer?

As someone who works in AI, I can share an example. One of my coworkers was tasked with building a model that needed to reach a specific accuracy. She used existing libraries, developed custom activation functions, and eventually achieved an accuracy way above the target. While training models, there were times she just watched her model run or took breaks. The job can be unpredictable, with some projects ending up being abandoned if they don't meet the requirements.

It might seem like AI development is just about tweaking layer sizes, but the reality is often more complex. You’re likely facing issues like messy datasets or troubleshooting model failures at odd hours. The work combines software engineering and statistics, making it unique—some people find it fascinating, while others may find it tedious.

AI development can be a mix of traditional programming and math, especially linear algebra. While you can import existing modules, you also work directly with data structures—like tensors—which can be tricky to manage and debug. It’s definitely a blend of coding and handling complex data.

Checking job listings on sites like Indeed can really help. They typically lay out what skills and experiences are required, like knowing Python and having several years of AI development experience. It's worth a shot to see various job descriptions to get a clearer picture of the role.

It sounds like you're thinking of machine learning engineering rather than just AI development. The job often involves using APIs from organizations like OpenAI. Overall, many programming roles share similarities; a lot of the work involves managing APIs and existing frameworks rather than crafting entirely new systems.