NYC is the center of the financial and commercial industry in the United States and it has seen a massive increase in the number of data and artificial intelligence related jobs in the last few years. Artificial intelligence has become the new, exciting technological buzzword threatening to disrupt the way we engage with the world. If you want to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to AI and you think that now might be the time for a new career change, learning about artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other associated skills (like Python and data analytics) is a great way to set yourself up for success. Figuring out what is going to be the next big deal and what is going to be the next non-fungible tokens is important if you want to give yourself a competitive edge on the job market and find the right position—especially as more professionals learn how to build real AI skills to prepare for a tech-driven future.
Why learn AI skills?
AI is poised to be the next major innovation that shapes the way that we live and work. It is quickly being integrated into everything from word processing applications to Photoshop, so learning how to use it well and effectively is likely to be a productive course of action when you are trying to develop long-term, high-value career skills. These skills can also help you avoid the kinds of pitfalls commonly associated with new and emerging technologies, namely chasing trends and trying to shoehorn AI content into situations where it may not be necessary.
Learning these skills is an excellent way to position yourself for a new career in a wide range of different fields, especially since AI integration is becoming a much more common aspect of the professional world. Learning how to work effectively with AI will help you demonstrate your skills to employers, making you a far more desirable hire, and it will help you work faster and more effectively, essentially improving your contributions to your company. Taken together, all of these advantages give students ample reason to consider AI training.
Companies located in NYC are always on the lookout for employees who can help them stay on the cutting edge of the competitive marketplace, and at the moment, part of this is understanding how AI can become a part of their business process. Whether it is in the financial industry, ecommerce, or even businesses like construction or traditional retail, the bustling NYC economy is full of places where a talented developer or trained consultant can find untapped potential or under-exploited inefficiencies through the use of AI. That’s why many professionals are now exploring the top reasons to learn AI skills as they plan their next career move.
What NYC industries are hiring AI-trained employees?
Given its novelty and potential, almost every industry is currently in the process of figuring out how AI can be integrated into their business practices as a means of improving workflow, streamlining processes, and automating rote tasks that employees want little to do with. From construction to education, finance to retail, and virtually everything in between, it is likely that there is at least going to be enough AI integration to make it worth your time to learn these skills.
For example, the finance industry, which is a major part of New York City’s economy, is working on ways to make AI-driven trading and investment analysis a reality. These professionals utilize AI tools to track market trends and analyze data at speeds and levels of accuracy that barely even dreamed of even a decade ago. As more and more data enters the market, there is a greater incentive to streamline all aspects of this process using AI (which can both collect and interpret the data) and to create dedicated AI tools that can assist in the investment process. Whether working as an independent broker or for a major investment firm like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, or Morgan Stanley.
AI is also becoming more common in creative and marketing fields, particularly as it serves as another toolkit in a creator’s roster of skills. For example, Adobe has begun the process of integrating their Firefly AI into all versions of their Creative Cloud applications, meaning that you will be able to make AI-assisted changes to any project you are working on directly in the application. This won’t replace human creators, but it will give them an additional set of tools to turn to when they are aiming to perfect an aspect of a project. Design studios like League Design Agency, OAX Studio, Designity, and Wolf&Whale are always on the lookout for top-tier talent who understand the fundamentals of working with and integrating AI design projects into their work.
The real winners of the rise of AI, however, have been the consultants and business professionals who understand how to help integrate AI into a wide range of different tasks and projects. NYC, as a hub for business, commerce, and financial trading, is also home to a wide range of consulting firms that are looking for talented AI specialists who can help their clients become more well-versed in how AI can be utilized to gain a competitive edge in their specific industry. This means that if you become familiar with the use of AI, you are able to parlay that knowledge into consulting work as well as work in the specific industry that you are working in. For example, BlueLabel, Brights, Oxagile, Neoteric, and LaunchPad Lab are just a few of the NYC consulting firms that have either integrated AI into their consulting work or popped up since the advent of public-facing AI.
Likewise, many AI consulting firms are on the look out for qualified programmers who can assist their clients in the practical side of integrating AI into their regular workflow. For instance, a consulting firm might have several consulting jobs with individuals, start-ups, or non-experts who are looking for assistance in feeding their raw data into a machine learning algorithm without a firm understanding of what that process is going to entail. As such, these projects will call for skilled AI professionals who are available to handle the hands-on practice of translating an AI project from the idea phase into a reality.
NYC is also home to the largest port on the eastern coast of the US, making it a hub for travel, shipping, and commerce. This also means that hundreds of thousands of employees are employed across every aspect of the industry to keep things running smoothly. Increasingly, this means turning to AI tools to assist in every aspect of the process, including the physical movement of goods and the data-related aspects of the process, including organizing, recording, and analyzing the movement of goods. Companies like NY International Shipping, Mediterranean Shipping Co US, and domestic shipping companies like FedEx and UPS have major hubs in NYC to accommodate the massive influx of goods entering and exiting the city every day. If you're interested in pursuing this path, you might also want to explore how to become an AI professional in NYC.
Will I need to learn to code?
There are paths for AI specialists to take that require some degree of coding and others that can be completed with no coding training. If you want to learn how to program and train algorithms, you will almost certainly need to learn some amount of specialized Python skills. However, if your main goal is to learn how to leverage existing tools and how to integrate them into your business or workflow as they continue to develop, you won’t need to learn any coding.
You can also learn how to code outside of the context of machine learning and AI if you feel that it would be more productive to learn these skills in another course. NYC is home to several high-quality tech education firms, and the schools featured in this article offer a wide range of different tech training options, making them ideal places to learn basic computer science while also learning the practical side of integrating AI tools into your regular workflow. You might, for instance, enroll in an AI for Marketing course with Noble Desktop while also enrolling in an introduction to Python for data science class to become more comfortable with Python in preparation for a more advanced artificial intelligence program in the future.
Given how competitive the marketplace in NYC can be, while you won’t necessarily need to learn how to code, it is certainly a risk to leave that training option on the table when you can be sure that other equally competitive candidates are going to be learning Python alongside their AI training.
How much do AI classes cost?
The cost of an AI class is going to vary based on how much training is involved and how many other skills are being taught as part of the course. Courses that just cover the use of generative AI, with the assumption that you are already trained in the professional skills that the AI will be supplementing, will be relatively inexpensive compared to most professional skills training programs. By contrast, if the AI training is part of a larger program, for example, being taught alongside Python programming and data science skills, you are likely to find that the courses will be fairly expensive. There are many ways to help ease the cost of these programs and the long-term benefits are certainly worth the investment, but you should be aware of the initial cost of some of these programs during the early stages of your training.
In addition, since NYC is such a major economic center, wages and prices are both going to be higher than the national average. This means that students may find that their programs cost a bit more than the national average, but they can also anticipate commiserate salary increases when they start a new job in an AI-related field.
While the cost of these classes can seem off-putting at first, you should be sure to check all of the programs you are interested in applying for, since many of them will offer students options for financing their tuition or paying in installment. These options will vary from program to program, but you can be relatively confident that most training centers offer some tuition assistance. There are also numerous financial incentives and support structures for veterans looking to learn professional skills.
How hard are AI classes?
The question of how hard it is to learn AI will depend on what aspects of the process you are opting to learn and how you are hoping to integrate that training into your daily life. If your primary goal is to learn how to get the most out of your OpenAI subscription, the lessons are fairly straightforward, and you are unlikely to run into too many problems. These lessons are approachable and are the kinds of things that individuals can often learn through trial and error. By contrast, it will be much more time and labor-intensive if you are looking to learn how to write and train your own artificial intelligence algorithms. This will require you to understand complex Python programming skills, and it will take a lot of practice to learn how to build AI systems that are functional and free from the kinds of bias that they are built to avoid.
How long does it take to learn AI?
Likewise, the time it takes to learn how to use AI tools will depend on what you are learning and what you are pairing with your training. For example, if you want to learn how to use AI tools in a graphic design context, you’ll first need to have an understanding of the principles and basic skills of graphic design. This can add a significant amount of time to the training process, but if you already have these professional skills, you will be able to pick up the AI aspects of the training far more easily.
Similarly, if you are learning to code, this will add more time to the process, especially if you don’t have a background in programming. AI algorithms aren’t the simplest aspect of programming, so you’ll want to gauge how much prior knowledge and experience you have with the coding process in order to have an idea of how many different classes you’ll need to take in order to reach the point where you are comfortable with your AI skills.
