Thinking of shifting from software engineering to math/physics due to AI
Posted by Fuzzy_World427@reddit | ExperiencedDevs | View on Reddit | 33 comments
Hi,
I’m a software engineer with strong math/logic skills and a passion for math and physics. Lately, I’ve been worried about AI replacing coding jobs. I’m considering shifting toward more theoretical, math-heavy fields like pure math or physics, which seem harder for AI to replace soon.
Has anyone done something similar or thought about this? Is this a good long-term move? Any advice on how to approach this transition?
micseydel@reddit
I wouldn't worry too much https://time.com/7295195/ai-chatgpt-google-learning-school/
No one knows the future, but all signs point to AI=tech debt, on average.
SpiritedEclair@reddit
I tried using Claude with very explicit instructions and acceptance criteria to build a proper, functional and pretty web app in react/nextjs and oh god is this thing horrible in terms of structuring and building things or following instructions like “use headlessui”, do this not that. And it even did the opposite at times.
I just ended up doing it myself.
Fair_Atmosphere_5185@reddit
Except worse because you'll have a cadre of "senior" engineers who haven't had to learn shit and can't tell what's right from wrong
micseydel@reddit
I'd be more worried if I thought it were permanent. I think businesses will eventually realize this tech debt is not going to pay for itself, and things will settle a bit.
RefrigeratorNearby88@reddit
I have a physics PhD from a top university where I did pretty well. Now, part of my job is being a software engineer. A pure physics career is more difficult, less lucrative and has more competition than software.
amesgaiztoak@reddit
Surprisingly past year I found more vacancies as a professor than as a SWE. Times are changing I guess.
gbeaglez@reddit
Are those actual tenure-track faculty positions or just shit-tier adjunct positions that pay like 2k per class per semester?
ryeguy@reddit
This sub is for experienced developers, not for people not even in the field to post questions.
Fuzzy_World427@reddit (OP)
aaah ok, lol, what about L5 at FAANG doesn’t that qualify me to write this post? Aah Reddit, you break my heart every time :S
A_happy_otter@reddit
I don’t have any data to back this up but I feel like even if AI replaced some coding jobs they will still outnumber pure math and physics jobs?
amesgaiztoak@reddit
Creating AI is a pure math job
ryeguy@reddit
It absolutely is not. Not only is it not correct that creating and training AI is a pure math job, but the entire supporting infrastructure is normal backend engineering.
amesgaiztoak@reddit
Sure, and obviously APIs and ETLs are the hardest part about AIs 🙄
TheStatusPoe@reddit
The math is hard stuff, but yes the scale of data that needs to be handled to train those models is on a scale that very few engineers will ever have to deal with. Handling data at that kind of scale in reasonable time frames is also a very hard problem.
amesgaiztoak@reddit
Doing API calls is not AI.
A_happy_otter@reddit
Sure but there’s probably not that many people doing that and they will be highly specialized phds, or coders implementing the plan those folks come up with, I would think
amesgaiztoak@reddit
Correct.
Constant-Listen834@reddit
Only if you wanna go into research
ryeguy@reddit
Even in that case, research jobs are ML focused which is not just math.
Distinct_Bad_6276@reddit
I used to say that, and then I actually tried
syberpank@reddit
Even teaching math isn't a pure math job...
Wang_Fister@reddit
It's a great idea, all of my baristas have physics degrees!!
idemockle@reddit
Are you prepared to go back to school for those disciplines? These fields are not like software. A high-paying career path in a hard science typically requires at least a master's degree and more often a PhD in that field. Are you prepared to spend years studying and doing research for little to no pay, and maybe even more time on top of that for a post-doc?
If you are truly passionate about these fields then go for it, do what you love. If your main motivation truly is fear of AI taking your job, that will not sustain you through a graduate program. At least it wouldn't for me. My own engineering PhD was extremely stressful to me, and I jumped ship to software partly because I was so disillusioned with academia by the end of it. But the beauty of software as a field is that I was able to teach myself enough of the remaining skills I needed to get my foot in the door. Unfortunately, that doesn't work for something like math or physics. At least in the US, you need credentials to be taken seriously.
Xsiah@reddit
Does anyone have any advice on how to make sure my cookies turn out more moist? I want to become a baker.
hammertime84@reddit
I came to software from physics. Physics is an extremely bleak career path. Math is even worse.
Constant-Listen834@reddit
So you’re shifting from one of the most employable majors to potentially the worst major for getting a job after college?
Distinct_Bad_6276@reddit
Yep. Probably 80% of the people in my undergrad and graduate mathematics cohorts ended up in software (including ML and data science), and another 15% or so in engineering.
prisencotech@reddit
Yes, everybody should give up, nobody should get into the industry and if you're in it you should get out asap. All software jobs are cooked, it's joever, give up.
This is good, solid and real advice and has nothing to do with me wanting to create scarcity so I can raise my rates.
endurbro420@reddit
What do you mean by pure math or physics? I worked as a physicist prior to sw. That was doing r&d for a nmr device company.
I wouldn’t worry so much about ai as I would just trying to find a job in the industry. The jobs are few and far between and there isn’t too much money.
pl487@reddit
Well, the first step to getting a job in math or physics is to get your doctorate in math or physics. Even then it's a difficult field to get into.
DeterminedQuokka@reddit
I mean I guess the question is do you want to be a professor? I don’t really know any other pure math jobs. You might be able to work at spacex with physics I don’t know how that works.
Teh_Original@reddit
Interested in this as well, but not for AI, just of career interest.
RedditDiedLongAgo@reddit
The bots already do it better than you.