There's a book I like called "Stumbling Upon Happiness", which says that people are generally happier with making changes than staying put - even if things go wrong, they are very good at rationalizing them. So that would argue for taking the SWE offer as a tie-breaker.
Re the money, you might well be able to command a much higher salary as a PhD in computer vision / deep learning, which would be an argument for continuing the PhD.
The part that gives me pause is that you are not really excited about your PhD topic. It's a long process, so I think you will want to have that excitement to be able to sustain you through doing a PhD.
Interesting perspective, haven't thought about letting my brain manipulate me into thinking I did the right offer after I make my decision. Thanks for the book, I'll have a look at it!
> Re the money, you might well be able to command a much higher salary as a PhD in computer vision / deep learning, which would be an argument for continuing the PhD.
There are so many factors that influence that _might_: research topic, network, publications, ... It's a bet on an uncertain future. Though I tend to think similar.
> that you are not really excited about your PhD topic
True. But I am excited about deep learning, and I can appreciate the opportunity to learn so much more about it while working on this project.
Re the money, you might well be able to command a much higher salary as a PhD in computer vision / deep learning, which would be an argument for continuing the PhD.
The part that gives me pause is that you are not really excited about your PhD topic. It's a long process, so I think you will want to have that excitement to be able to sustain you through doing a PhD.