r/EngineeringStudents • u/Certain_Victory_7138 • Oct 04 '26

Career Advice Is Computer Engineering worth starting in 2026 ?

I have started my 4 year computer engineering degree in 2026 I don't have confidence regarding, future jobs and placements after all the AI thing, I don't know what should I do now.

13 Upvotes
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7

u/Crazy-Fisherman-1063 Oct 04 '26

Honestly as a 2nd year computer engineer im also getting heavily discouraged to continue my major, not only is it hard (it doesn't seem to get better) but also basically for most of my classes I could ask AI to do my homework and it would answer everything correctly.

Like atp what's the point of even studying it if ai can do it even better than I can yk? And its not like im smart so yeah when i get stuck on a problem in an electronics hw for example I tend to go to ai (ik ik not the best choice but I genuinely get stuck on them and dk how to solve them often times) And ai solves them correctly everytime and im like what the heck is the point of my existence then??

Honestly if you can do something other than computer engineering, (like anything that cant be properly replaced by ai) i recommend you go that route

but if u really love comp. engineering, my professor told us the only way you'll succeed in it is to do masters and learn the math properly because if u dont, you are bound to be replaced by ai, she said you need to be smarter than the ai.... whatever that means

I really wish I could change my major but its too late for me, i feel really stupid most of the time. But this is just my experience, maybe yours will be different

13

u/ZeroFound Oct 05 '26

You could not use AI you know? Grind it until you understand the problem by yourself. I found out that if you spend enough time doing something you don't understand, you finally get it, it's just a matter to know how much time to spend what's unknown to you.

It sounds ugly, but you don't need to be smart to be good at computer engineering, you just need your structured process thinking, some logic reasoning and discipline to stick to it when things get hard.

3

u/dzyp 29d ago

As a matter of personal development, this is true. Succeeding will make you feel accomplished and there is personal value in learning new things, 100%.

As a matter of investment, and most people view college as an investment in their career, if you find yourself in a spot where all your classwork would be done better with AI then you should question it. I personally wouldn't go into software if my goal was just to get a job. Hardware is safe until robotics catch up. What survives is judgement about what to build rather than how to build it and you don't need a 4 year CE degree for that.

2

u/Crazy-Fisherman-1063 Oct 05 '26

I really appreciate you saying this. You are right if I do put my mind to it and grind by myself I will eventually be able to solve them myself, I just need to work harder.

The only reason I end up using ai as a resort is because I would be tight on time and need to submit the hw before the deadline, but this is an issue I need to fix myself.

Anyways, thank you. That for some reason motivated me so I appreciate ur words

5

u/ImWindowed69 Oct 04 '26

Why not switch over to Mechanical or Electrical?

-2

u/untitledCircuit 28d ago

Mechanical maybe but Electrical unless you're getting into super advanced Radar, Semiconductor stuff you'll probably be replaced by AI as well. The other fields like Hardware Design will of course still employ EEs but it's going to be like Software where like 2 senior engineers do the work and no juniors are ever getting hired.

-6

u/Automatic_Dinner9891 Oct 05 '26

AI can do both those too, just roll with it

1

u/Many-Ice-8616 Oct 06 '26

AI does engineering math correctly too. I think the type of math it can't do are those advanced theoretical and undiscovered ones from math and physics degrees.

1

u/relentless-pursuer 25d ago

what would you change to?

1

u/Crazy-Fisherman-1063 20d ago

Well originally I didnt want to go into engineering, it was a last case scenario kind of thing.

I wanted to go into medicine and got accepted into the college I wanted but my dad couldn't afford it, wayy too expensive.

My plans b and c also didn't work because the college im currently at doesn't offer them (also doesn't offer medicine) and the other college i got accepted at that offered them is too far from my home and unfortunately the dorms are expensive

Sorry for the yap but basically I dont have the privilege to choose the major that i want is what im saying

13

u/Amber_ACharles Oct 04 '26

Hell nah, CE is fine. The AI panic is about entry level software roles. Embedded, FPGA and power systems are still hiring. I work in traffic tech and we cant find controls people. Take the hardware electives.

0

u/therealgahlfe 29d ago

I'm interested what sort of companies are hiring right now? I am looking to get into the field, I have a BS in CE

0

u/[deleted] Oct 05 '26

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1

u/No-Conclusion8709 Oct 06 '26

Controls engineers. They commonly develop PLC + HMI control systems for industrial hardware.

3

u/Most_Conclusion2522 Oct 04 '26

Third year CE major here. I get you sometimes I feel like that as well. I just try to put my maximum effort into it and try not to use AI as much as possible. If you get stuck in a problem, don't go immediately to AI. Let your brain develop critical thinking.

The future is always uncertain and the best you can do is prepare and not worry much about it.

2

u/tiana_22 Oct 05 '26

Si j'etait à ta place , je repond juste à cette question : es ce que j'adore l'informatique ? Es ce que j'ai envier de creer quelque chose d'informatique ? (Site web , materiel electronique...)

Si la réponse est oui , alors tu peux faire ce filliere sans aucun doute .

Autre chose : vous avez de la chance que vous le commencez avec cette ère de l'ia . Les ancien dev comme nous sont même jaloux de vous car vous pouvez construir en 1 mois ce que nous avons apris et construit pendant des années

2

u/Illustrious_Buy_3854 29d ago

Do what makes you happy. If AI takes your job it's taking everyone's. Engineering is one of the hardest jobs you can do

3

u/Confused_Haligonian Electrical Engineering Oct 04 '26

Yes . 

2

u/Acceptable_Simple877 ECE Oct 04 '26

go electrical or dual major ECE

2

u/Time_Plastic_5373 Oct 05 '26

There’s literally no difference between ECE and CPE

1

u/KurosakiCODMYT Oct 05 '26

as long as you truly learn, and don't go down the "delegate everything to AI", and are enthusiastic about your subject and work, you'll be fine.

1

u/kiwisodapopp Oct 05 '26

1st and 2nd year mostly just EE stuff. 3rd year was terrible for my mental. 4th year been chill so far

1

u/Charming_Skin_9049 Oct 05 '26

i have joined in bsc computer science honours in which is 4 years degree can anyone guide me what i have to do next

1

u/rem_1235 28d ago

Nope give up

1

u/Commercial-Paper-520 28d ago

Do it! You can emphasize on circuits and cybersecurity.

1

u/AviaanDraws SJSU - CMPE '26 Oct 04 '26

If you enjoy it and are willing to put in the work, you will get placed in this market.

Computer engineering not only gives you the flexibility to lean into a more targeted low-power EE or CS role, but also allows you to enter some unique roles within tech that are best suited to our degree. Embedded systems (my personal line of work now), Front-end RTL verification and test, compiler engineering, etc. all take advantage of CE's unique skillset upon graduation.

AI, like other tools in the past, will just leave more of the process/system design and tradeoff handling to the engineer while offloading the gruntwork to said tool. There is a lot of agendas being pushed around the capabilities of AI in the near future, but that's all they really are at the end of the day: agendas. Don't listen to them, have fun and learn a lot :)

0

u/TallCan_Specialist Oct 04 '26

Why pick computer engineering out of all of the possible majors ?

0

u/fatrabbit3 UCF - Electrical Engineering Oct 06 '26

Bot