The hottest AI job two years ago is already doomed.

The position of AI prompt engineer has basically vanished.

Written by: Bu Shuqing

Source: Wall Street Journal

Two years ago, AI prompt engineers were one of the most popular professions in the tech industry, with annual salaries reaching up to $200,000, referred to as the “AI whisperers” in companies. Their job was to carefully design input prompts to get the best responses from large language models. However, with the rapid development of AI technology and a deeper understanding of this technology by companies, this position has now almost disappeared.

Microsoft AI at Work Chief Marketing Officer Jared Spataro stated:

Two years ago, everyone said, “Oh, I think prompt engineers will become a hot job.” The result was completely different.

In a recent survey conducted by Microsoft, 31,000 employees from 31 countries were asked about the new job positions their companies plan to add in the next 12 to 18 months. The results showed that the position of prompt engineer ranked second to last, while roles such as AI trainers, AI data specialists, and AI security specialists topped the list.

The rapid development of AI technology is the main reason for the decline of engineering roles. Today’s AI models perform better in understanding user intent and can proactively ask follow-up questions when there is ambiguity.

Spataro explained that large language models have evolved to be more iterative, conversational, and context-aware. Microsoft’s AI-driven research agent will ask follow-up questions, inform you when it does not understand something, and seek feedback on the information provided. In short, “you don’t have to have the perfect prompt.”

Hannah Calhoon, Vice President of AI at the job platform Indeed, stated that the number of job postings for prompt engineers is negligible. User searches for this position on Indeed surged from 2 times per million total searches in January 2023 to 144 times in April 2023, and have since stabilized at about 20 to 30 times per million searches.

Calhoon said:

They may have discussed the value of prompt engineers, but in reality, they haven’t hired for this position.

In the face of increased economic uncertainty and pressure from budget cuts, companies have been more cautious in their overall hiring in recent years. Companies such as the insurance company Nationwide, the workwear brand Carhartt, and the insurance company New York Life have all stated that they have never hired prompt engineers, but instead found that—when better prompt skills are needed—this is a specialization that can be trained among all existing employees.

Nationwide’s Chief Technology Officer Jim Fowler stated that the company has launched a company-wide AI training program for all employees, with prompt engineering being one of the most popular courses.

Therefore, whether you are in finance, human resources, or the legal department, we believe this will become a skill within job functions rather than an independent job title.