Machine learning has gripped the tech industry and is changing the way all of us live our lives. More than ever before all kinds of companies and industries are looking to harness machine learning to enhance their offering. That means they need IT professionals who can help them develop and maintain this new software. 

Machine learning or ML is all around us, and companies are using AI in unique ways every day. For example, Pinterest utilizes machine learning to discover what users enjoy seeing and are most likely to buy, and then they serve up similar images to them in the future. This learning helps them set up appropriate, unique fees for every person.

Yelp utilizes machine learning algorithms to help employees correctly categorize and organize thousands of restaurants in their database. This learning helps them deliver a better experience to customers and employees alike.

Customer service features have improved the way robots can assist customers online. Thousands of companies utilize machine learning chatbots to help answer questions and direct questions they can’t answer to the right representative. The chatbot technology is always learning through advanced AI so it can better serve customers.

IBM has developed a healthcare software that can help create treatment options and give patients the service they need. Its learning can actually help save lives at it gets more sophisticated skills and AI technology that advance its abilities.

Sales organizations around the world are utilizing machine learning software for their CRM software. Machine learning helps these organizations manage and organize their clients accurately and efficiently.

There are thousands of other machine learning uses that surround us, and more companies are coming up with unique uses every day. If you’re working toward a degree in IT, it’s valuable to learn about machine learning careers and see if one could be a good fit for you. There are machine learning jobs out there beyond becoming machine learning engineer. This guide will help you get carer advice and learn important things about machine learning careers, including their day-to-day responsibilities, median salary, and more. Some popular machine learning jobs include:

Voice recognition software is an important technology that utilizes machine learning. Banks, utility companies, and doctors offices all use this to help their customers. Talk to text applications are also becoming increasingly popular as a tool to help more people be able to text. Computer linguists help computers learn how to understand human speech, and use their skills to improve the systems that already exist. Computational linguists additionally help computers learn about patterns of speech, and translation. The ultimate goal is to help computers be able to understand and comprehend language. 

A computer science degree is a great way to get started as a computational linguist. This degree program will help you learn about coding and programming, from Python to Java, preparing you to help teach computers about language and machine learning. Computational linguists can expect to earn an average annual salary of over $87,000 per year, with the lowest 10% earning around $66,000 and the top 10% earning more than $136,000 per year. Job growth for computational linguists is steadily growing, and professionals can expect they will have many opportunities in this field.

Data scientists focus on more abstract AI and ML work. They create and manage the analysis for information sets. This involves them framing and identifying the problem, collecting the data, and then processing and analyzing the data. They are responsible for studying the patterns that come from raw data, and then developing the techniques that can be used to process the data. They use their skills to do data modeling, prototypes, algorithms, and more. Data scientists use machine learning techniques as they tackle big data sets. Data science is used in a variety of IT settings, and ML data science is an up and coming field. 

A computer science degree is a great option for those who want to become data scientists. It will help students learn about specific programming languages like Python, operating systems, security, and big data configuration. Data scientists earn an average annual salary of $95,000, with the lowest 10% earning around $66,000, and the top 10% earning more than $134,000 per year. The BLS predicts that this profession will grow 19% by 2026, which means there are many opportunities for those interested in this kind of career.

Machine learning has a unique branch that focuses on machine learning algorithms and humans. These professionals are responsible for creating smart systems that can learn the preferences and behavior patterns of individuals, using information processing and pattern recognition. Humans create these ML systems so they end up not needing human intervention down the road. A great example of this work is Netflix and Amazon’s recommendation engine. This ML program is taught to evaluate how humans think and then recommend something to them based on their preferences. Human-centered machine learning designers create the programs that help computers learn how to do this.

Human-centered machine learning designers can greatly benefit from a degree in IT or computer science. They need to know about programming and coding in areas like Python and SQL in order to be prepared for their career. Machine learning designers can expect to earn an average annual salary of over $100,000 per year, with those who have more education and experience earning even higher salaries. This is a fast-growing profession, and those interested in this role will likely find many opportunities. 

Machine learning engineers utilize predictive models and language processing while working with data sets. They use big data tools to help raw data be redefined into scientific models that can be consumed and understood. They are in charge of building the data models, feeding information into them, and scaling them so they can handle real-time data. Machine learning engineers also build programs that control computers and robots. They develop the algorithms that help the machines be able to identify patterns, helping them be prepared to teach and think for themselves.

A degree in computer science will help students be prepared for this role by helping them learn about algorithms, scripting, programming languages like Python, analytics, and more. Machine learning engineers earn an average annual salary of more than $114,000 per year, with the lowest 10% making around $78,000 per year and the top 10% earning more than $150,000 per year. As machine learning continues to grow in popularity, so will demand for these engineers. 

NLP or natural language processing helps machines get the ability to understand human languages. This may sound similar to computational linguistics, and it is extremely similar, but the goals are different. NLP scientists design and develop machines that can learn the pattern of human language and translate words into other languages. The goal is for computers to comprehend human languages as naturally as humans do. Duolingo and Grammarly are two great examples of NLP applications. 

A degree in computer science can help prepare you to become an NLP scientist by giving you great insight into how coding and scripting work, as well as giving you knowledge in specific computer languages. NLP scientists earn an average annual salary of $77,000 per year, with the lowest 10% earning around $55,000 and the highest 10% earning more than $112,000. NLP scientists can greatly benefit from knowing other languages, and will see high demand the more languages they speak.

Software developers and software engineers are the professionals who create computer programs. They utilize machine learning in their applications to help the programs get smarter over time and deliver to their client. They design, test, and develop software, create software upgrades for existing programs, and create models and diagrams to help programmers. 

A degree in software development is obviously an ideal choice for those interested in this occupation. This degree program will give you knowledge and skills in a variety of software programs, web development, operating systems, data management, and more. Developers can expect to make over $103,000 per year on average according to the BLS. The lowest 10% of the profession can expect to earn around $61,000, while the top 10% can expect to earn more than $161,000 per year. 

If a career in machine learning sounds interesting and exciting to you, a degree from WGU can be a great place to help you get started on the path. Dive into an exciting future with the help of WGU.