4 AI jobs that don’t require advanced data science skills
Can’t code? No problem! You can still hop on the AI bandwagon as a data labeler, documentation writer, project manger, or ethicist.
BY Doug Aamoth
If you’re interested in AI work but can’t write a line of code to save your life, the good news is that you’ve still got options. There’s more to this technology than just algorithms, data modeling, and technical engineering, after all.
Here are some roles—in order of average pay, starting at the low end—for non-techies looking to switch to an exciting AI career.
AI data labeler
Artificial intelligence is only as good as its data, and data with no context generally doesn’t make much sense.
Data labeling is the process of adding meaningful tags or annotations to raw data in order to help train machine learning models.
Data labelers tag data like text, images, videos, and similar media to improve the accuracy of AI software. These works comprise much of the front line of AI and can expect to pull in an average of just over $50,000 per year.
AI documentation writer
Complex though AI may be, normal people still need to use it. That means it needs to be well documented—yes, many AI-powered products come with a user manual.
And those user manuals need to be written by people with a general grasp of how AI works and a more specific understanding of how their company’s AI products function. They then need to translate that information into plain English so their customers can use their products.
Documentation writers often have a hand in crafting user-interface text, online help guides, developer manuals, tutorials, and more. Average pay is about $80,000 yearly.
AI project manager
Getting an AI initiative off the ground is no easy feat, especially in larger organizations. If you’re organized, meticulous, diplomatic, and resourceful, you might make a great AI project manager.
Project managers work with several different teams to facilitate communication, set project goals, stick to budgets, manage resources, develop timelines, and tackle a host of other functions. They’re the glue that holds a project together.
As an AI project manager, you can expect to be heavily involved in resource management—specifically how to allocate computing infrastructure, tooling, personnel, and all the other things AI projects need to run smoothly. Average pay lands just north of $100,000 per year.
AI ethicist
An increasingly critical role for any company getting serious about developing AI products, the job of the AI ethicist is to set guidelines and policies that promote their company’s AI development.
While this doesn’t always need to be an overly technical position, the AI ethicist will have to get a handle on their company’s AI algorithms and, more importantly, what those algorithms are capable of outputting.
It’s also important for AI ethicists to ensure products minimize bias, discrimination, legal issues such as copyright infringemen, and other potential social obstacles. Average salaries land at about $128,000 per year.
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