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Random personal opinion: get a masters degree, researching computer vision or NLP, or something that hedges you against AI. Or if you are inclined, do a PhD. A

Random personal opinion: get a masters degree, researching computer vision or NLP, or something that hedges you against AI. Or if you are inclined, do a PhD. Also you sounds like you are a bit burned out. Translating sounds even much more AI-replacable than CS -- don't do that if you fear CS. (Also Blind is toxic albeit informational! Call up some people. Ask me; or ask HN or some less negative places for how the industry is looking.)

charlie0 3y ago
This is a huge bet and it's going to further increase their student debt. If it doesn't pay off, they'll be much worse off than just moving back home with their parents and trying to say, start a business or freelance.
- altdataseller 3y ago
  Better option: learn it on your own. Pick up a side project, take a course, make mistakes and within a year you’ll have enough skills to be dangerous
- codethief 3y ago
  > it's going to further increase their student debt Never accept a PhD position that you need to pay for (beyond opportunity costs). A PhD position should pay you.
- jyunwai 3y ago
  The soundness of the advice depends on the person's specific situation. I've known a person who benefitted from a Master's as the degree gave the person access to certain internships, which helped the person break into a specific field that would've been difficult to enter otherwise. Another person who earned a Master's found it easier to get a work visa working in a foreign country with a better market for that person's field. However, each of these people had a specific goal in mind with getting their Master's. The person who asked advice could also find it helpful to only consider a Master's if they also have a specific outcome in mind, served directly by pursuing the degree.
  - charlie0 3y ago
    Agreed. Getting a Master's should be part of a well defined plan, not a "I don't what else to do and the economy is bad so I should stay in school for a few more years to pass the time" deal.
- tekla 3y ago
  If you pay for a masters or pHD you have done something incredibly wrong.
  - sodality2 3y ago
    Is this really always true? Even with short one year masters programs? I’ve been told this bit of advice quite a few times. My university offers a one year CS masters and I’ve considered it but there’s zero opportunity for an assistantship for the one year programs (as far as I know) so I’d be paying or hoping to find a company to sponsor it/get grant money to cover it.
askhn234 3y ago
>Also you sounds like you are a bit burned out. Translating sounds even much more AI-replacable than CS -- don't do that if you fear CS. Sorry, I accidentally removed the last part of that sentence. It was supposed to say this: So far, I've thought about translating (I'm bilingual) and technical writing. AI is already quite good at both of those, and Duolingo just replaced most of its translation staff with AI. Thanks for the reply.
- tkgally 3y ago
  Just to reinforce what you and others said: Translation work has indeed been impacted significantly by AI and will be even more so as LLMs, tooling, and workflows improve further. That said, translation is also like programming in that it seems to be the junior translators who are most impacted. Newbie translators’ job is often just to take any text they are given and render it into another language, with little or no control about the choice of text or its content and with little or no interaction with the client. AI can do that pretty well now, and much more quickly and cheaply than any human. The human translators who are surviving are those who spend less time translating words on a screen than they do learning their clients’ needs, helping their clients navigate the subtleties of interlingual and intercultural communication, and advising their clients on how to adapt their content to meet the needs of their target readership. I don’t know if there are many entry-level jobs available now with such responsibilities, but that’s what I would be looking for, not for what has traditionally been called “translation.” My thoughts on this topic from a year ago can be found on my website, linked from my profile.
- runeblaze 3y ago
  Btw, totally unsolicited advice, but please take care of yourself. You sound like you have quite some decisions to dwell on, and correct decisions are much harder in moments of hopelessness. If you feel hopeless, we (at least me, and HN in general) are here to help besides other resources.
  - nullptr_deref 3y ago
    I'm in similar boat. But I love CS and it seems easy for me. But I butchered myself (meaning no substantial skills on paper) so I am unhireable. People don't even look at my resume. Deactivated LinkedIn because it was causing harm than good. That's it!
ummonk 3y ago
Anyone entering graduate work in AI now is likely going to be entering a market with a glut of similar graduates in 2-4 years.
- runeblaze 3y ago
  Good point, and my original opinion should at least have what you said as fine print. Personally, I am finishing up a PhD in CS. When I started my PhD, deep learning had already been all the craze but I chose another subfield -- that did not pan out so well. Hence, I still think AI (maybe AI + X) is a good choice in general.

charlie0 3y ago

This is a huge bet and it's going to further increase their student debt. If it doesn't pay off, they'll be much worse off than just moving back home with their parents and trying to say, start a business or freelance.

altdataseller 3y ago
Better option: learn it on your own. Pick up a side project, take a course, make mistakes and within a year you’ll have enough skills to be dangerous
codethief 3y ago
> it's going to further increase their student debt Never accept a PhD position that you need to pay for (beyond opportunity costs). A PhD position should pay you.
jyunwai 3y ago
The soundness of the advice depends on the person's specific situation. I've known a person who benefitted from a Master's as the degree gave the person access to certain internships, which helped the person break into a specific field that would've been difficult to enter otherwise. Another person who earned a Master's found it easier to get a work visa working in a foreign country with a better market for that person's field. However, each of these people had a specific goal in mind with getting their Master's. The person who asked advice could also find it helpful to only consider a Master's if they also have a specific outcome in mind, served directly by pursuing the degree.
- charlie0 3y ago
  Agreed. Getting a Master's should be part of a well defined plan, not a "I don't what else to do and the economy is bad so I should stay in school for a few more years to pass the time" deal.
tekla 3y ago
If you pay for a masters or pHD you have done something incredibly wrong.
- sodality2 3y ago
  Is this really always true? Even with short one year masters programs? I’ve been told this bit of advice quite a few times. My university offers a one year CS masters and I’ve considered it but there’s zero opportunity for an assistantship for the one year programs (as far as I know) so I’d be paying or hoping to find a company to sponsor it/get grant money to cover it.

askhn234 3y ago

>Also you sounds like you are a bit burned out. Translating sounds even much more AI-replacable than CS -- don't do that if you fear CS. Sorry, I accidentally removed the last part of that sentence. It was supposed to say this: So far, I've thought about translating (I'm bilingual) and technical writing. AI is already quite good at both of those, and Duolingo just replaced most of its translation staff with AI. Thanks for the reply.

tkgally 3y ago
Just to reinforce what you and others said: Translation work has indeed been impacted significantly by AI and will be even more so as LLMs, tooling, and workflows improve further. That said, translation is also like programming in that it seems to be the junior translators who are most impacted. Newbie translators’ job is often just to take any text they are given and render it into another language, with little or no control about the choice of text or its content and with little or no interaction with the client. AI can do that pretty well now, and much more quickly and cheaply than any human. The human translators who are surviving are those who spend less time translating words on a screen than they do learning their clients’ needs, helping their clients navigate the subtleties of interlingual and intercultural communication, and advising their clients on how to adapt their content to meet the needs of their target readership. I don’t know if there are many entry-level jobs available now with such responsibilities, but that’s what I would be looking for, not for what has traditionally been called “translation.” My thoughts on this topic from a year ago can be found on my website, linked from my profile.
runeblaze 3y ago
Btw, totally unsolicited advice, but please take care of yourself. You sound like you have quite some decisions to dwell on, and correct decisions are much harder in moments of hopelessness. If you feel hopeless, we (at least me, and HN in general) are here to help besides other resources.
- nullptr_deref 3y ago
  I'm in similar boat. But I love CS and it seems easy for me. But I butchered myself (meaning no substantial skills on paper) so I am unhireable. People don't even look at my resume. Deactivated LinkedIn because it was causing harm than good. That's it!

ummonk 3y ago

Anyone entering graduate work in AI now is likely going to be entering a market with a glut of similar graduates in 2-4 years.

runeblaze 3y ago
Good point, and my original opinion should at least have what you said as fine print. Personally, I am finishing up a PhD in CS. When I started my PhD, deep learning had already been all the craze but I chose another subfield -- that did not pan out so well. Hence, I still think AI (maybe AI + X) is a good choice in general.