Ask HN: Is Udacity's AI nanodegree worth it?
Will most jobs in the field go towards PhDs and MScs anyway, and such a nano-degree would mean nothing, so I am better of learning on my own from cheaper resources? Or is a much cheaper nanodegree + other courses that I'll probably get certified from Coursera be the same thing. Or do you think there would be somthing of value in this nanodegree they offer that would help in getting a job after it, even lacking a formal education, being in Europe, and not really having an interesting? My goal is to land a job or paid-internship at some company doing cool real world ML and hopefully also with access to a tons of data.
(More on me: good at learning on my own, above average math & physics background despite being a uni drop-out from an unrelated field, I'd dare say I'm a decent software engineer (but with not that much to show on resume and github because I made bad decisions and wasted years working for either failed startups or "dubious" clients under strong NDAs). I even dare think that I have some truly original ideas about solving some tough AI/ML problems (though this is probably wishful thinking, there are too many way smarter than me folks grinding on this in academia), especially around explainable ai, and around using current technologies to build "common sense infused human-like agents". But I also tend to get lazy and lose motivation for stretches of time so maybe more strucutre would help me.)
7 comments
[ 64.2 ms ] story [ 274 ms ] threadIn addition, as a full-stack engineer with no CompSci background, these types of courses and projects (non-CRUD, more challenging) will help set you apart from the waves upon waves of Rails/Angular bootcamp grads.
yes, but the question is more like whether this particular course/nanodegree, which is priced like >4x as much as other courses in the fields, is really worth it?
I mean, they did kind of a poor job explaining its contents and why it's better than maybe getting a similar thing by combining much cheaper or free resources from them and their "competitor" MOOC platforms... even the backers, IBM + Amazon Alexa + Didi... are not exactly the most transparent and "leading" entities in their field, it's not like they have a "backed by Google/Facebook" that would inspires 10x more trust.
I will definitely continue learning more and trying to get a career in this field... but my question is about this particular learning resource: do you think it would be really worth the price?
They both have pros and cons but in the end, I think for me, a master degree is more interesting:
- More content and subjects (Usually takes 1-2 years) and usually more theoretical contents - Official title - Options to continue with a doctoral degree
In favor of the nanodegree:
- Taught by influential people in the field - Industry-oriented - Hiring partners (?)
I have been thinking and if I was going to take a nanodegree, the only one I would go for is the self driving car ND. Why? Because It's something different, something you can't easily find at the university. I see it like a bootcamp, so maybe if you have a AI background you can learn more about this particular field and hopefully land a job related to this technology