Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#1

Post by studioghibli » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 4:24 AM UTC

Hi all, I have an offer to pursue a PhD in Computer Science (Machine Learning) from a top-4 CS school (Stanford/CMU/MIT/Berkeley) starting this Fall. My research interests lie in interpretability, adversarial robustness, privacy and fairness in machine learning. My eventual goal is to have a long-term career in industry research in machine learning as a research engineer/scientist.

While I love research, I do have a fear of missing out on how hot the AI/ML in industry is right now with excitement in all areas - robotics, web agents, coding assistants etc. I'm looking for advice on choosing between the two options

1. *Ditch PhD*. Is the right time to jump on the industry bandwagon (ditch PhD) ? I'm considering joining an early stage startup in AI/ML as a founding engineer.

2. *Go for PhD* Is continuing for a PhD the better option for the long term ?

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#2

Post by piku » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 5:07 AM UTC

Do PhD if you want to be professor, otherwise masters is enough imho

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#3

Post by ericjmorey » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 5:18 AM UTC

Seems like you want to go work on the start-up.

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#4

Post by studioghibli » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 5:45 AM UTC

ericjmorey wrote: post #3

Seems like you want to go work on the start-up.

I want to do what's optimal in the long run. although, working on the startup is tempting i feel it will be sub-optimal for a long term career in research.

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#5

Post by studioghibli » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 5:46 AM UTC

piku wrote: post #2

Do PhD if you want to be professor, otherwise masters is enough imho

Is this specific to machine learning ? I feel industry is slowly eliminating ML research scientist positions and transitioning to engineering only off late.

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#6

Post by piku » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 6:54 AM UTC

studioghibli wrote: post #5

piku wrote: post #2

Do PhD if you want to be professor, otherwise masters is enough imho

Is this specific to machine learning ? I feel industry is slowly eliminating ML research scientist positions and transitioning to engineering only off late.

There are multiple research positions, of course lesser than engineering but the work that researchers do in big tech is no where close to research done in universities

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#7

Post by sk11001 » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 11:34 AM UTC

For you yes - you're interested in research and have an offer from a top university - take it.

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#8

Post by findingMeaning » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 11:42 AM UTC

Well if you are getting at the top, go for it. You will build more credibility and trust from top universities rather than working on some startup. If the startup happens to be like OAI, then choose that one. The rate you learn at startups is something else.

A good idea would be to try research in academia for 2 years, see if you like it not, then drop out with a Masters. If you are a citizen of the states, why not do both? Work at startup and pursue PhD as a hobby? Pretty sure you are capable of doing that.

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#9

Post by magic_man » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 12:08 PM UTC

If you are going to into a top 4 school it is something that will look good on your resume unless you already went harvard, stanford, etc. The Research community seems to like phds from prestigious schools.

Re: Ask HN: Is this the right time to pursue a PhD in Machine Learning?

#10

Post by newsoul » Wed, Mar 13, 2024, 1:10 PM UTC

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