Thanks for the great write up! It does seem like this is specific to a very small set of labs. The number of students/professionals wanting to get into AI research is much higher than the number of jobs available at labs like OpenAI. In addition to this, most Big Tech companies that hire for research generally have PhD requirements. Doesn’t this mean that a PhD would still be useful in 2025 even if you want to pursue research in the industry?
thanks for pointing that out. I don't know the specifics about many companies, but generally, It'd be helpful to understand whether you can transition from an engineering role to a relatively researchy role: most of the current "AI research" in industry is quite shallow and applied, and the line between engineering and research is blurry than ever. so if you are able to find such a role that could prepare you for a later transition, it might be faster than a full PhD; but otherwise, starting with a PhD seems like a good option
Thanks for the great write up! It does seem like this is specific to a very small set of labs. The number of students/professionals wanting to get into AI research is much higher than the number of jobs available at labs like OpenAI. In addition to this, most Big Tech companies that hire for research generally have PhD requirements. Doesn’t this mean that a PhD would still be useful in 2025 even if you want to pursue research in the industry?
thanks for pointing that out. I don't know the specifics about many companies, but generally, It'd be helpful to understand whether you can transition from an engineering role to a relatively researchy role: most of the current "AI research" in industry is quite shallow and applied, and the line between engineering and research is blurry than ever. so if you are able to find such a role that could prepare you for a later transition, it might be faster than a full PhD; but otherwise, starting with a PhD seems like a good option