Deep learning is infiltrating the workplace – is the time ripe for upskilling?

Deep learning has a wide variety of applications and is said to be the fastest-growing area in artificial intelligence, which makes it an ideal area to upskill in.

An analysis by McKinsey Global Institute shows that deep learning techniques can be applied across industries alongside more traditional analytics. It serves as an important technology for many industries, including insurance, healthcare, and retail, to name a few. 

Meanwhile, ODSC (Open Data Science Conference) — which organises events to discuss data science and machine learning topics — said large investment houses like JPMorgan Chase are using deep learning based text analytics for insider trading detection and government regulatory compliance. 

They add that it is rapidly transforming many industries including healthcare, energy, fintech, transportation, and many others, to rethink traditional business processes with digital intelligence. 

“Early adopter industries have witnessed a profound effect on the workplace and great potential in terms of developing deep learning applications, which can be used for yielding forecasts, detecting fraud, attracting new customers, and so much more,” it said.

LinkedIn’s 2020 Emerging Jobs Report lists “Artificial Intelligence Specialist” as its top emerging job in the US (74% annual growth), adding that skills unique to the job include machine learning, deep learning, TensorFlow, Python, and natural language processing.

Job site Indeed said Job searches in AI have witnessed a spike of 106% in the last year (June 2019 to July 2020), while AI-related job searches have increased by 20% in the past six months (March 2020 to July 2020) alone.

Upskilling in the field 

In a world increasingly powered by this technology, demonstrating its usefulness and power, this makes it essential to upskill in the area if you want to accelerate your career.

There are many ways to get a credential in the field. edX, for instance, offers a Professional Certificate in Deep Learning, a seven-month-long programme that teaches learners the fundamental concepts of deep learning, including various Neural Networks for supervised and unsupervised learning; use of popular deep learning libraries such as Keras, PyTorch, and Tensorflow applied to industry problems; and how to build, train, and deploy different types of deep architectures, including convolutional networks, recurrent networks, and autoencoders.

You can also expect to work on case studies from healthcare, autonomous driving, sign language reading, music generation, and natural language processing, in addition to hearing from many top leaders in the field who will share their personal stories and give students career advice.

Yonsei University in South Korea offers Deep Learning for Business, offered via Coursera, noting that in the near future, more advanced “self-learning” capable deep learning and machine learning technology will be used in almost every aspect of your business and industry.

The course is spread into three parts, focusing on areas such as deep learning and machine learning technology based future business strategy including details on new state-of-the-art products/services and open source deep learning software, which are the future enablers, to name a few. 

Ultimately, its impact across industries cannot be understated. As companies increasingly adopt applications that require this expertise, individuals who upskill in this area stand to open the door to more career opportunities and play a role in developing solutions and improving existing applications that can improve company returns.