NYC is the capital of a booming artificial intelligence industry

The downtown Manhattan skyline is seen from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S., on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018. Though Liberty State Park, which draws five million annual visitors, 1,212 acres (490 hectares) are set aside for public use, that hasn't kept private interests from pitching visions of luxury-suite crowds toasting elite auto-racing teams amid the relics of America's immigration story. Photographer: Sarah Blesener/Bloomberg

From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, there’s increasing demand for highly skilled workers in artificial intelligence and machine learning. But a limited pool of talent has allowed viable candidates who smell the desperation to put a high price on their skills. 

The number of job postings featuring “artificial intelligence” or “machine learning” in their description has doubled since 2015, according to global jobs site Indeed.com, and prospective employees are increasingly seeking them out. Search entries for AI and machine learning positions have risen 182% in the past three years. But more job searches don’t mean more qualified applicants, as industries struggle to find sufficiently skilled candidates.