Dear Reader,
Welcome to our weekly mailbag edition of The Bleeding Edge. All week, you submitted your questions about the biggest trends in technology. Today, I’ll do my best to answer them.
If you have a question you’d like answered next week, be sure you submit it right here.
First up is a great question from a reader who is interested in breaking into the AI/ML field…
Jeff, I am wondering if you have advice for someone wanting to explore the AI/ML field. I have been interested in pursuing education down this road to make a career change. I read your Bleeding Edge and Near Future Report and I feel, as you do, that this is the industry with serious growth prospects.
What would be the best approach for this? Most colleges do not have majors focused on it and they are exceedingly expensive. I have read you mention Udacity before and I am curious if that is the best approach.
– Michael H.
Hi, Michael. First off, thanks for being a reader. This has been a popular question in our mailbag in the past. And I’m always happy to answer questions from readers looking to continue, or even begin, their education in the field of high technology.
And I can tell you that if you are able to develop the skills for this field, you will absolutely have work. I’ve shared the below chart before. But it perfectly illustrates this.
Simply put, AI will be the hottest area for jobs over the next 20 years.
The field is so hot that AI specialists with little to no industry experience can expect to make between $300k and $500k per year (in salary and stock) on average.
And as you can see, there are about 2.9 times more job openings than there are applicants to fill those positions. It’s a job-seekers’ market.
Udacity is certainly one place you could start to seek out additional training. For readers who don’t know, Udacity is a company that offers “nanodegrees.” We can think of these as highly specialized certifications for very specific techniques. This could become something that we do on a frequent basis – perhaps earning a nanodegree every few years.
Udacity offers nanodegrees in everything from AI programming… deep learning technology… and natural language processing. They also offer an “Intro to Machine Learning” course. These courses typically cost anywhere between $450 to $1,300.
And if you’re looking for free resources to continue learning, I’d recommend you look at edX (www.edX.org). A lot of the content is free, and edX is backed by MIT, one of the hot spots for AI/ML.
Coursera is another site for online learning, and there are several AI/ML courses from famous professors at Stanford available (www.coursera.org/stanford).
And in the event that you might want to earn a full degree, AI/ML specializations can be earned within the computer science school of major universities. The pre-requisite to taking specialized courses is computer programming skills, which can be learned in a university program, or in specialized programming boot camps like Flatiron School, Hack Reactor, Fullstack Academny, or General Assembly.
Best of luck, Michael.
Next up, a great question about the importance of 5G for national security…
Hello Jeff, I read a lot about the power of 5G technology, but I am seriously concerned that the U.S. is woefully (and dangerously) behind China in this technology. Do you think the U.S. can overcome this? Or are we destined to fear monitoring and control by an adversary?
– Stephen C.
A great question, Stephen…
My longtime readers will need no reminding. But for those just joining us, 5G is the next generation of wireless technology. And it’s a game-changer. As our live 5G demonstration shows, 5G will be exponentially faster than our current 4G networks. Peak speeds will be 100 times faster.
But 5G is more than just faster download speeds on our mobile phones. With 5G bandwidth, some incredible technologies become possible. Fleets of self-driving cars, remote robotic surgery, even virtual reality; all of this and more will be possible with 5G.
All told, 5G is expected to deliver $12.3 trillion worth of new goods and services by 2035. That’s about 70% of America’s total GDP. So the incentive for countries to build out these networks is economic. Having 5G wireless networks will be a catalyst for innovation, and investment in new products and services.
Which is why developed countries are racing to build out their 5G networks. They know how valuable and important they are for economic growth and technological advancement.
But to address your question specifically, no, the U.S. is not at all behind in 5G wireless technology. Not in any way. In fact, it is leading the world.
There are three large wireless network system integrators in the world. They are Huawei (China), Nokia (Finland), and Ericsson (Sweden). All three companies make the hardware, and some software for wireless infrastructure.
They have large system integration teams, project managers, antennas, base stations, etc. The opinion that you have shared comes from the fact that there is no large U.S.-based system integrator like the three mentioned above. That’s true, but it is not the whole picture.
Inside of the equipment of all three system integrators are all the critical components, like semiconductors, that make that equipment function. And guess where that technology comes from? You bet, the United States.
Key 5G wireless semiconductors come from U.S. companies like Qualcomm, which has been on the bleeding edge for decades. Other major companies like Skyworks, and Qorvo supply the most advanced RF semiconductors for 4G and 5G wireless networks that go inside both smart phones and base stations. Cisco, Juniper Networks, and Infinera provide the internet routing equipment that moves data and phone calls around the world at light speed… all U.S. companies.
U.S. companies dominate in intellectual property and patents in and around 5G wireless technology. The fact is that the U.S. has focused its energy and investment on the higher value, higher margin wireless technologies rather than the low margin system integration business. U.S. companies work extensively with Huawei, Nokia, and Ericsson selling their products and partnering with those companies in 5G wireless network build outs.
The U.S. continues to lead in this technological development. And it will lead in developing products and services that use 5G wireless technology.
[5G represents one of the best investing opportunities of this decade and the next. But 99% of investors don’t know the incredible wealth that will be created in the years ahead. They’ll miss it. But you don’t have to be one of them. Get all the details on my #1 5G stock for 2020 by going right here.]
Let’s conclude with a piece of feedback that really caught my eye and reminded me why I do what I do…
I may be a 76-year-old lady, but I LOVE what you write to me all the time! I invest in a number of your stock ideas and look forward to them playing out. Some have already. It’s fascinating…
But I feel a bit lonely. I only know a few people who appreciate (in the real sense) what you write. I get so many emails… but yours are the ones that truly fascinate me…
– Sandy W.
Thanks for your kind words, Sandy. As you know, I’ve devoted my life to the world of high technology. I feel so fortunate to be able to share my passion with readers. And I agree with you. We are living through an incredible time in technology. When I think about the innovations that will come in the next few years, I can hardly wait.
And don’t worry if your friends don’t quite “get it.” Most people can’t imagine a world of exponential change. They just imagine things will keep progressing slowly, linearly year after year.
But in a few years, we’ll see fleets of self-driving cars rolling down the freeway. Every person on the planet will have their own digital AI assistant. Thousands of diseases will be cured permanently thanks to advanced genetic editing technology. Heck, we’ll even be able to take a vacation to space.
The truth is, most are not at all ready for the changes that are coming in the next few years. I often wonder even if I am; but they have already begun. It’s so great that you have the passion and interest to invest time to learn about these technologies and prepare for what’s coming. You’re definitely going to be ahead of the game.
And 2020 is going to be even more fun than 2019. There’s so much to look forward to. Thanks again.
That’s all the time we have this week. If you have a question you’d like me to answer, be sure you submit it right here. I’ll do my best to get to it next week.
Regards,
Jeff Brown
Editor, The Bleeding Edge
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The Bleeding Edge is the only free newsletter that delivers daily insights and information from the high-tech world as well as topics and trends relevant to investments.
The Bleeding Edge is the only free newsletter that delivers daily insights and information from the high-tech world as well as topics and trends relevant to investments.