AI Programmer: Job Description, Industries, Useful Tips For Applicants

Intro

Among all the technologies artificial intelligence is considered to be the most fast-advancing and fascinating. With the forming of a new niche in IT, the need for specialists in this technology appeared. Now, AI programmer is a rather perspective career that has a lot of space for progress. One of the most developed sectors is gaming artificial intelligence but other industries don’t hesitate to pick up the tendency and new opportunities to evolve.

In this article, we’ll explore the peculiarities of AI developer jobs, major requirements, and the outlook for the growth of AI programming. Follow our brief guide on how to become an artificial intelligence coder, and find out what to expect choosing the career, needed skills, and probable AI programmer salary.

Who is an artificial intelligence developer?

Before we start delving into some particular characteristics and specifications in our detailed job description for artificial intelligence coders, let’s define this career in general. Before pursuing the AI developer jobs it’s important to understand what are the principles of their work and decide for yourself whether it’ll be interesting for you or not. This way, you won’t get bored or burned out in your new position when you get hired. Consider your interests and capabilities as working with artificial intelligence require quite a lot of skills and knowledge from developers. They utilize advanced technologies of machine learning (ML) and complex algorithms to create features of AI for video games and software of other businesses.

To generalize the meaning, let’s say that the AI programmer is a software development expert that specializes in creating artificial intelligence applications and adapting them to the needs of a particular business industry. Of course, there’s more to the responsibilities of the artificial intelligence programmer. Read ahead to find them out with details.

Here in Atlasiko, we believe that it’s important for workers to be passionate about their field and explore opportunities for professional and personal development. Therefore, we recommend finding out everything about the occupation to avoid disappointment and be sure that the artificial intelligence coder is the right job for you. We aspire to help you with the task by providing detailed information.

Description of AI programmer jobs

Among the main responsibilities of AI programmers to make software with artificial intelligence for developers of games or other systems, they also have to execute lots of wide-ranging tasks. Here are some examples of what duties AI coders have to deal with.

• Working in close collaboration with data scientists and engineers, machine learning systems, etc. 
• Building models of artificial intelligence using technologies of machine learning and deep learning (DL) to obtain insights into the business. 
• Creating new artificial intelligence software that meets the business objectives of a particular organization. 
• Maintaining the quality of performance of legacy AI programs making necessary optimizations and updates. 
• Cooperation with designers, project managers, and stakeholders for successful artificial intelligence IT product development. 
• Performing data ingestion for machine learning and building transformation architecture. 
• Making improvements and researching innovative technologies for the enhanced development process. 
• Providing user training for other workers to ensure proper utilization of software developed by the artificial intelligence coder.

Keep in mind that these are just common responsibilities that the AI programmer might have. Naturally, the specification of tasks will differ in accordance with the industry you will work in as an expert in AI programming. For example, if the artificial intelligence coder is employed in AI game creation, they may specialize in writing decision-making and operational AI algorithms for NPCs. Of course, if the AI programmer works, let’s say, in manufacturing and creates AI for enhancement of the Industrial Internet of Things, objectives will be nothing like those in AI game programming.

What skills do you need for AI programming?

Except for the common soft skills (communication, teamwork, punctuality, etc.) that most organizations want to see in their employees, there is a list of necessary hard skills of programming AI specialists. Let’s take a look at the requirements that you need to meet to get a job as an AI specialist.

1. Relevant education and background
   Naturally, one of the most obvious ways to back up your job application is to provide information about the attained degree in computer science, courses, educational programs in AI programming, etc. Even if artificial intelligence isn’t your major or the studying isn’t finished, you still have a chance to get hired by proving your expertise with certificates.
2. High-level programming skills
   No surprise that proficiency in object-oriented programming is a must for an artificial intelligence coder. Skills and knowledge of different programming languages always impact the decision about hiring and even the AI developer salary. 
3. Maths and algorithms
   It’s essential for all programmers to be able to solve logical tasks and challenging coding matters using efficient algorithms and mathematical principles. Thus, programming AI requires algorithm knowledge for a successful organization of software architecture. 
4. Statistics and data analysis
   As all artificial intelligence apps and tools work on the technologies of ML and DL, AI experts have to be familiar with data collection and analytical operations. Skills in statistics also give artificial intelligence coders a better vision of the market, business needs, and client base. 
5. Critical thinking and research
   Good AI programmers never fully rely on one technology and always seek innovative means to improve their work. They can assess the flaws of the software objectively and think of creative ways to overcome bottlenecks. A necessary step in AI programming is to research new tools and smart AI models. We’ve already shown progress in the creation of artificial intelligence tools for developers, so check our previous article.
   

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Lead of Software Development

Even though some development projects might appear challenging, professionals of our team take it upon themselves to create an unparalleled solution. We develop programs keeping in mind business needs and goals of our clients.

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Tools that AI programmer has to be proficient in

Beside the general skills required by the position, AI developers have to be familiar with many programs and platforms to ensure the efficiency of AI solution development. Some organizations allow their artificial intelligence coders to choose the software they want to work with, others require proficiency in certain tools that the company uses. Anyways, if you, as the AI coder, want to succeed in both cases and don't struggle, it's better to get acquainted with the most popular tools at least. Here's the shortlist of IT solutions usually used in AI programming.

• IDEs of programming languages (Python, Java, C++, etc.) 
• Platforms and libraries for ML and DL (KNIME Analytics, H2O.ai, Alteryx Analytics, Amazon SageMaker, and others) 
• Cloud platforms (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and so on) 
• Popular APIs 
• IBM Watson AI in video games development 
• Tools for analytics (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, etc.)

Video game AI development

AI games programming

The utilization of AI in game development is a relatively recent trend that is now in full swing. It became a useful means for the game industry because of the automation capabilities and providing opportunities for the acceleration of development processes. Therefore, there are many jobs in game development that require skills and knowledge of AI programming. In comparison with other fields, AI games creation is a segment with a high level of specialization so responsibilities and needed hard skills are defined profoundly.

If we want to generalize the definition, an AI game programmer works on intelligent objects or characters for games with the help of AI algorithms and neural networks so these items can be implemented in the gameplay harmoniously. Thus, the artificial intelligence developer creates such algorithms that compile sets of possible actions and unique scenarios in the game as reactions to players’ decisions. As a part of artificial intelligence game design, they also enable the work of games’ decision trees in a way when they seem to be fully independent systems influenced only by players. Such advanced technology as AI game programming provides more dynamic and interesting experiences.

Description of AI career in game development

Let’s specify the responsibilities the game AI programmers have to deal with. Of course, these tasks may vary depending on the projects and companies, but here are some common duties.

• Communication with designers and game developers for planning an AI strategy for a particular project. 
• Establishing parameter patterns as a basis for game rules. 
• Development of NPCs with artificial emotions and behavior patterns based on written algorithms and neural network data from machine learning. 
• Research for artificial intelligence elements and technologies to improve AI game development. 
• Providing prototype models for testing and making changes in code based on feedback. 
• Collaboration with animators to create believable characters, and testers to find out function bugs. 
• Expanding the capabilities of games by creating custom AI tools.

Skills required for artificial intelligence game development careers

Apart from those skills we listed in the job description for artificial intelligence developer, the specification in the game AI programming demands an extended range of abilities. Here we’ll take a look at the essential qualities that an artificial intelligence game development career requires additionally.

• Working with popular game engines to build AI games e.g. Unity3D (offers a machine learning agents toolkit), Unreal Engine 4 (provides tools of a Behavior tree, AI Controller and Character tools, Navigation Component, etc.), CryEngine 3 (provides AI elements and creates custom AI actors), or others. 
• Knowledge of the processes and pipelines of video game production. 
• Experience in AI gaming from the perspective of both players and AI programmers. 
• Understanding of human psychology to create believable NPCs’ behaviors, emotions, and responses. 
• Understanding of physics for ensuring real-world-ish object positions and movements.

More industries that need AI developer expertise

AI in games production is just one niche that right now is being revolutionized by artificial intelligence technology. There are many other industries that aspire to adopt AI solutions to gain a competitive edge. Therefore, they all have a need for the expertise and experience of AI developers. We analyzed the market of IT services and hires to distinguish the most perspective business segments for AI programming specialists.

1. Cybersecurity and IT
   It’s only natural that the first industry to be reshaped by artificial intelligence is IT. Software coders, engineers, and other specialists don’t hesitate to use advantageous features of AI tools to facilitate their work. Read the previous AI article in our blog for more info. In cybersecurity, this technology is often implemented by antivirus firms and companies which work with big-volume databases to ensure data safety. 
2. Healthcare
   In this industry, a whole new AI-powered sector is developing called predictive healthcare. This method of the use of artificial intelligence allows medical workers to get the analysis of data like heartbeat rates or glucose levels in the blood, etc., and the prediction of the future condition of patients. The AI programmer also works on developing tools for the facilitation of scan results analysis with computer vision technology, IoT-enabled health condition remote monitoring, and many other innovations. 
3. Customer service
   AI natural language processing (NLP) capability helps businesses to provide clients with efficiently-working customer support service. The NLP algorithms in chatbots or other applications can understand what issues a customer has, analyze them, and choose the best answer to provide solutions. In many cases, the accuracy of such software is so impressive that organizations choose to replace customer support executives with AI completely. 
4. Manufacturing
   The industrial segment has developed a few directions of artificial intelligence adoption: predictable maintenance (forecast the operational time for equipment); robotic process automation (AI powers machinery to perform mundane tasks); quality assurance (the use of AI algorithms along with IIoT for automated analysis and flaws detection). Thus, artificial intelligence programmers have a lot of space for creating innovative solutions for manufacturing. 
5. Transportation
   Self-driving cars are the best examples of the work of AI programming specialists. They create artificial intelligence software that can basically “think” like a driver on the basis of ML/DL algorithms analyzing and interpreting info from sensors, GPS, and other navigation systems, and then making a command for the vehicle to move in the chosen direction. Autonomous cars are still not that common and many industries are yet to adopt them so there are lots of opportunities for AI programmers to participate in the development. 
6. Financial services and banking
   AI solutions characteristically fit in the sphere of banking and financial operations because of large volumes of data. All collected information about clients, transactions, credits, etc. have to be efficiently managed in order to prevent critical mistakes. So the industry needs the services of an AI programmer to get an application for the automation and security of important processes. 
7. Supply chain management and logistics
   Artificial intelligence that powers IoT in the supply chain, warehouse management, and logistics is frequently used. These segments utilize AI features of predictive analysis, intelligent automation, and algorithms for image recognition for optimization of supply chain management processes. 
8. Retail
   The development of specialized AI solutions for retail is in demand because it also gives businesses effective means of working with data on clients, stocks, and sales. Moreover, among the latest trends organization of autonomous shopping takes place which heavily depends on ML/DL technology and intelligent automation. 
9. Marketing
   The Marketing industry uses programming AI expertise to create apps for personalized messaging and ad targeting. For example, the tool sees previous searches in the product catalog, and then algorithms show similar goods in the advertisements. 
10. Business intelligence
    This process of business management is driven by innovative technologies like artificial intelligence. The main purpose is to assist executives in decision-making based on the results of a thorough evaluation of data collected from internal IT architecture and external systems. AI software helps in the process and provides actionable solutions as an output.

What careers are related to programming AI jobs

AI programmer isn’t the only profession that requires thorough knowledge and understanding of artificial intelligence. With the right set of abilities and experience, you have opportunities to pursue other jobs in AI programming that are more narrowly focused. Since such skills can benefit IT professionals in many careers, we’ve done our research and gathered the most fast-developing jobs in the AI programming field down below.

• Machine learning engineer 
• Data scientist 
• Business intelligence developer 
• Research scientist 
• AI data analyst 
• Robotics engineer 
• NLP engineer 
• Big Data engineer/architect

AI developer salary in statistics

One of the essential questions in the process of choosing this occupation is “How much do AI programmers make?”. According to the Salary.com portal, as of December 27, 2022, the average income for AI developers in the United States is $100,017, although the normal salary range is between $91,771 and $108,784. Salary ranges can vary significantly depending on various crucial aspects, including schooling, credentials, supplementary talents, and the length of time you've been working in a given field.

Of course, there are other estimations of artificial intelligence programmer salary. Let’s take a look at the income numbers for AI specialists and related professions provided by Payscale resource.

Annual AI developers salary rates

How to become an AI programmer

How to write an artificial intelligence resume

What to include in a CV for an artificial intelligence job

A typical artificial intelligence resume has a commonly defined structure and format. Surely, you can be creative and place all the elements in your own design and order using AI resume templates, but the important structural components still have to be included. Here is what you have to write in your AI CV:

• Contact information; 
• Education, certificates; 
• Work experience; 
• Skills (soft and hard skills, knowledge of foreign languages, programming software, and tools, other); 
• Optional – interests and hobby, personal projects, awards, and recognition.

Tips on creating an artificial intelligence resume

We have found a couple of examples of great artificial intelligence resume that you can take notes of to create your own AI CV. You can also use the listed services to find your favorite AI resume template and complete it with the required info.

1. Specify the position you’re applying for. It’s important to define our desired career right from the start. Place your qualification next to your name or below in the contacts block. 
2. Write a resume summary or objectives. In this part, give a short explanation of your goals and motivation. 
3. Organize your experience correctly. This is mostly the first thing employers look at, so make it stand out from the rest of the info. Use action words, lists, and accurate dates. Describe your work experience but in a brief form. 
4. Related information only. Many applicants think they need to list all their “trophies” to show just how talented they are. However, most IT companies couldn’t care less that you won a dancing competition in primary school, for example. It’s great to have an employee with many talents but too much unrelated info in the resume will just worsen the impression. Of course, this rule isn’t applied to all relevant skills which you have to add to the AI CV. 
5. Write a cover letter for an artificial intelligence position. Everything that doesn’t fit in the artificial intelligence resume you can describe in a cover letter. Many companies appreciate more application-specific and personal data.

Examples of AI solutions programmer resume

 1. CraftmyCV (both examples)

 2. Novoresume

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article gives you an extensive artificial intelligence job description and answers all questions about the profession of the AI programmer. In the modern IT world that makes great progress in developing the aforementioned technology, the work of AI developers is in demand as never before. Don’t miss your opportunity to get this job and participate in revolutionizing industries across the world. With our short guide, it’ll be easy to orient in the career, create a perfect artificial intelligence resume and apply without doubts.

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