Throughout the period of AI expansion (from the 2010s to today), one profession has gradually become more and more valuable: prompt engineer.
The prompt is to the AI what the wish is to the genie of the lamp. Without prompts, no AI system would function as it should. The expansion of generative AI models and in particular ChatGPT (OpenAI) has given birth to new professions and reshaped others. Chatbot designer, AI ethicist, conversation data analyst or AI security manager, there are quite a few. Among the latter is the profession of prompt engineer (prompt engineer), which is particularly popular.
In the past, the data scientist was considered the “ sexiest job of 21th century » according to an article by Thomas Davenport (specialist in analysis and innovation in business processes) in Harvard Business Review. Today it seems that quick engineers are gradually stealing the spotlight from data scientists.
Definition and importance of the prompt engineer
The simplest definition to determine the role of a prompt engineer would be this: specialist who refines and optimizes interactions between humans and generative AI systems. David Gerwitz of ZDNET explains: “ To excel as a proficient AI engineer, it’s not enough to know how to ask incisive questions. This profession requires a seamless fusion of skills in artificial intelligence, programming, linguistics, problem solving and even art “.
The salaries of these professionals, at least in the USA, are soaring. From 175,000 to 300,000 dollars annually. In France, you will need around half of this salary for the same work, depending on the company and the projects. So is this the dream job? The reality is more complex than that. Greg Beltzer (RBC Wealth Management) describes that recruitment in this field is rather difficult on the employer side.
Recruitment challenges and prospects for development
Not without humor, Beltzer mentions that “ most people who recruit don’t actually recruit, they steal “. In other words, talented professionals are very rare, while demand is exploding. The profession is located at the intersection of several rather specialized technical fields: AI (obviously), programming, natural language processing, even human psychology. “ Finding someone with significant experience in this field is extremely difficult. It is rare to find professionals with more than five years of experience. At best, one can hope to find individuals with two or three years of experience, but even that proves to be a challenge » regrets Beltzer.
This complexity translates into a certain urgency to create tools and specialized training for rapid engineering for AI. Beltzer even questions the deeper nature of this skill set: “ There is a critical need to quickly train people in rapid engineering. The question then arises: is it a science or an art? Are we going to develop more tools for this? “.
The prompt engineer is the very example of the profession that has become essential in less than a decade. A phenomenon which is necessarily accompanied by difficulties in defining a real framework for it and which results on the ground in the difficulties mentioned above. However, the rare people who have already mastered this unique combination of skills are guaranteed a rather bright professional future.
Source : ZDNet.com
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