Re: career options in cog sci: what's your advice?

From: Randy (joe_at_burgershack.com)
Date: 07/07/04 

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 13:14:54 -0500

isaacyho@gmail.com wrote:
...
>
> I do however, have a real passion for human nature, emotions, how
> humans "work". That has lead me to consider going to grad school for a
> master's in Cog Sci. Basically, I'd be really content to have my
> current job, but just switch out the context so that instead of
> journal articles on genome evolution and DNA repeat classification,
> I'd be reading articles I naturally care about, get excited by. But
> do these jobs exist?
>
> Thus, I wonder what sorts of jobs out there may satisfy the following
> parameters:
>
> - software development component
> - need to delve into/apply understanding of human behavior, emotions,
> knowledge
> - pays pretty well ( $65K+ )
...
>
> a.) what sorts of jobs / employers could fulfill those 3 requirements
> today? In the next 3-5 years?
> b.) what books should I read to get a better sense for the reading /
> problems and day-to-day issues I'd be dealing with on-the-job?
> c.) what schools should I look at for a master's? Is a master's
> enough for the jobs in a.)?
>
> In general, my impression is that cog sci is too new a field to have
> lots of commerical applications. This also means that many of the
> issues are heavily in the research vein, and not in the application
> development/engineering vein ( a market for stable, easy-to-use
> software that implements particular algorithms ). I guess I'd like a
> healthy balance of practical building and interesting research, as
> exists in bioinformatics.
>
> Thank you so much for your help!
>
> Isaac

I empathize. I've looked closely at job prospects in AI/CogSci over the years,
but elected not to pursue the field because:

- You need a PhD to prosper in the field. I think you can find work w/o a PhD
(if you look hard), but the scope of the work is going to be limited. Your role
will be administrative or one of implementor. The big issues and the
interesting details will fall to folks with research experience. Also, there
are lots of folks with PhDs in AI/CogSci who will out compete you for the job if
you have only a MS.

- The field is not exactly booming. The side of AI that is least respected by
business and the US military is probably cognitive science. From what I've
seen, the 'AI Winter' of the 1980s just seems to have gotten colder unless your
AI focus includes decision theory, statistics, or optimization. I've seen a few
jobs embedding knowledge into simulated systems that reproduce the behavior of
tactical resources (military) or social organizations (intel), and in modeling
human perception and emotion, etc. But this work is generally undertaken by
research labs like USC's ISI or Stanford's SRI, which are full of PhDs. Some
work exists within smaller firms, but it's really hit-or-miss, and usually tied
to individual military/ intelligence contracts which last only a year or two.

Academic AI/CogSci is a bit different, since you're doing research. But I doubt
a lot of funding is available for CogSci these days. I get the sense that the
work is either psychology/HCI-centric (modeling human behavior), or
philosophical, and the funding vehicles for each are not exactly flush with
cash. And of course, doing research in academia requires a PhD.

In summary, I think you *can* find work in the field, but I don't think you'll
find it especially interesting or satisfying without a PhD and probably a
willingness to do pure research or work for the US Department of Defense.

     Randy 

-- 
Randy Crawford   http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~rand   rand AT rice DOT edu

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