The Evolving Role of the ML Engineer

Staff Machine Learning Engineer Stephanie Kirmer discusses how her sociology background shapes her perspective on AI's social impacts and inequalities. She explains that LLMs and code assistants have changed her daily work by handling routine tasks, but human expertise remains crucial for unique problems. Kirmer argues that the AI economy is an investment bubble driven by unrealistic profit expectations, not a failure of the technology itself. To rebuild public trust, she suggests companies should focus on solving real problems and support public education to demystify AI.