Which jobs are safe from being replaced by AI? Which engineering branch pays well and are not laid off due to AI? I was thinking of pursuing VLSI, but I'm concerned since AI models keep improving exponentially with time.

With the onset of large AI models for various applications, some basic human tasks have been automated very efficiently. But in a lot of core engineering areas including VLSI and communications, AI has aided and helped improve upon current standards. For instance, while some minor aspects of VLSI design can be fully automated with AI, the role of a VLSI engineer remains as vital as ever. Even in 6G, AI has been used for improvement in waveform design. So, AI will be more of a tool that can be effectively used to improve upon current standards than something that will completely take away jobs. As a matter of fact, because of the development of AI techniques, humans will be required to perform more involved and challenging tasks (leaving the mundane for the machines). Further you can also study different aspects of CSE that can help improve the state of art in tooling like AI.