I have a friend who is interested in pursuing master degree in A.I.
He is currently working as a full time software engineer.


This post has been edited by Sze wen: Dec 4 2024, 11:45 AM

I was also looking for the same thing. What about ukm? They have master in AI

xxx

This post has been edited by Sze wen: Dec 4 2024, 11:46 AM

Just to have better clarification, you mentioned he currently has a full time job, is he going to stop his job to start full time master degree or work while taking his part time master degree?
Based on my personal experience, I strongly recommend the latter, his mileage may vary though.

In term of data science, I have 2 ex-colleagues took the part time master degree in data science in UM, it is project-based. Also, I'd like to recommend him to take project-based (or full coursework) instead of mixed mode or full research, which is also based on my personal experience (I took mixed mode, thesis was in Deep Learning domain too), research work is time consuming due to we have to search, read (will need to learn cursory reading for sure) & digest those academic journals. For people who have full time job may find it challenging to commit to research work, unless he is okay to sacrifce sleeping time.

Hope it helps.

xxx

This post has been edited by Sze wen: Dec 4 2024, 11:46 AM

I wonder what kind of recommendation you want.

University? Anywhere will work, so choose one that provides access to publishers like IEEE, Elsevier, Springer. You need access to the articles published by these publishers, and if your university doesn't provide access, it will be a headache. Sci-hub is there for help, but it cannot provide latest papers that are recently published.

If you plan to work in Malaysia, definitely prefer the MSc to be accredited by MQA.

For thesis research field? It depends what you like. AI is too general. Usually, we will say: image processing/computer vision, natural language processing, audio processing, data science, big data analytics, etc...

these are all the fields that are dominated by machine learning and deep learning algorithms recently. So, you can just simply pick one and master that field. You will be expert in one of the fields, not AI. AI is too general, and the word is only used by normal people, not experts.

Which one is easier? I don't know. I personally is in computer vision and I am finding it already got lots of things to venture. It's endless. Every month new papers are published, even professors also need to keep up.

Sorry to be honest that right here, really cannot gain some significant insight. You just need to enroll and start the study then you'll know it. The answers here won't let you know how getting a research degree feels like, and the recommendations may not be what you like.

Just go wherever you want to go, and research whatever field you want to.

In the end, it's not where you graduated that make you proud/make you successful in research. It's where you publish your work, whether you are noticed by editors globally, and how impactful your research is.

This post has been edited by hellothere131495: May 17 2022, 03:37 PM

xxx

This post has been edited by Sze wen: Dec 4 2024, 11:46 AM

Need your opinion,

for a 30+ year old with 3 years of experience in the tech industry that is constantly evolves

have fundamentals knowledge in AI

1. wanting to stay relevant

2. having a solid knowledge in both fundamental and real-word applications of AI

Is it better to take a master or just take relevant certifications

I am working in Singapore AI industry. I don't want to discourage you, but the fact is AI field in Singapore is extremely challenging. It is almost impossible to land a new job without connections and impressive research results (published in top tier AI conference like Neurips / ICML, etc.). The number of job posts are declining, and most of the companies are startups which are unstable. Every day, I witnessed people left the industry and even those bachelor students cannot find a relevant job right now.

If you are just taking it for knowledge then go, but if you are taking it to become an AI engineer then better no.

Certifications if:
- You want faster, focused, practical skills
- You’re targeting specific roles/tools (e.g. ML engineer, data scientist)
- You’re already working and need flexibility

Master’s if:
- You aim for research, academic, or leadership roles
- You want structured, in-depth theory + application
- You can commit time and cost

Brief take:
For staying relevant and deepening applied + theoretical AI skills, certs are great short-term, but a Master’s is a strong long-term investment if aligned with your career goals.

Thanks for the replies and advises

I've turned down the offer to pursue the master after many considerations

Will start looking for relevant certs