Key role in the job market: What exactly does an AI developer do?

Hollywood fantasies of hoverboards and flying cars have not yet become reality, but we have developed machines that can mimic human abilities such as logic, learning, planning and creativity. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a forward-looking technology that is shaping our everyday landscape and becoming increasingly important. It is a central driver for the digital transformation of our society, and so the role of AI developers is also becoming increasingly important.

The spectrum of AI fields of work is broad. Companies are constantly looking for engineers, data analysts, SAP experts, project managers, software architects, consultants and programmers who are familiar with AI. AI developers, who are specialists in developing algorithms and programming the required software, are especially sought after. AI developers are used in all industries where AI is needed, including automotive, electrical, aerospace and defense. They often use common programming languages such as Python, R, Java and C++.

AI developers are essentially software developers specializing in artificial intelligence. Today, we need software solutions that can provide a high level of autonomy and automate the increasing complexity of data processing.

They are responsible for designing, developing and optimizing artificial intelligence based solutions. They analyze existing data and processes, select suitable algorithms and train them – in other words, they teach the system the skills it needs to master for the particular application. This is known as “machine learning.” They also often take over the maintenance and further development of existing AI systems. Our AI expert Cédric will tell us more about what exactly AI developers do.

An AI developer is responsible for the development of artificial intelligence. But the scope of duties is more extensive than one might think at first glance. AI developers are responsible for implementing machine learning, a process that uses AI to perform certain tasks automatically without explicitly programming it to do so. They also include analyzing existing data and processes, often in collaboration with customers.

Designing AI software

AI developers must have the ability to design software or specific programs. Machine learning plays a major role in AI systems. This is because the goal of AI is not only to create machines that can learn human skills, but more importantly, to create machines that can analyze themselves and adapt to changing conditions.

Creating algorithms

The ability of AI systems to learn on their own is based on intelligent algorithms. In this regard, coding is particularly complex, but essential for the machine to function. In order to write successful codes, the requirements for the product must be precisely defined and understood. In addition, creating complete AI models can also be part of an AI developer’s job.

Data analysis

The benefits of AI – such as automating processes, reducing effort, increasing security and reducing costs – are not significantly different from those of traditional IT applications. The use of AI is particularly useful in analyzing structured data and making predictions derived from it. AI developers collect data to combine with machine learning algorithms to identify common blockages or program errors. For AI developers working on large projects, working with Big Data is routine.

Maintenance and support

Reliable data analysis is critical to finding solutions to various problems. Hand-in-hand with data analysis are maintenance and support. Over time, bugs, updates or change requests from the customer regarding the deployed AI may occur. This is where the AI developer is there to help and advise the customer.

Natural Language Processing

Natural Language Processing (NLP) aims to improve communication capabilities between humans and machines. The goal is to improve the response of machines to human voices or commands. Like machine learning, NLP uses Big Data and algorithms. Well-known examples of NLP include voice recognition assistants such as Siri and Alexa, which use speech recognition.