Stop Lying on LinkedIn. Are You an AI Engineer or Just a Good Prompt Writer?

Crazy title! But I dunno but I've seen the "Proud AI Engineer" title everywhere... but a lot of what I see is just guys who are:

A recent article I read called this "The Delusion Epidemic," and it dropped this brutal truth:

"Using AI doesn't make you an AI engineer any more than using Microsoft Word makes you a software engineer."

Ouchiiie..

The article argues there's a VAST gap between AI Users (Consumers) and AI Engineers (Builders).

Here's the quick-and-dirty breakdown. Be honest... which camp are you in?

CAMP 1: The AI User (The "Consumer")

CAMP 2: The AI Engineer (The "Builder")

You build the full application around the AI (the UI, backend, database).
You design and build APIs (e.g., using FastAPI, Node.js, etc.).
You're focused on the system architecture (e.g., using Supabase, AWS, or GCP) to make it work.
You handle production issues like security, scalability, and cost.
You're building the actual SaaS product that users interact with.

This isn't about shaming anyone! Being a skilled AI User is a critical, high-value skill right now.

But the article argues that the job security, impact, and (let's be real) the potential income are worlds apart. We're talking $100 vs. $100k+.

So, let's talk about it.

Which of these honestly describes you right now?

AI User / Power User (I'm great at using tools like ChatGPT, etc.)

AI Product Engineer (I build apps & systems using AI)

AI/ML Engineer (I build the actual models from scratch)

Just here to learn!

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