Can I work in AI via an apprenticeship?

I used to be sure on wanting to complete a mechatronics degree apprenticeship but now I'm really into AI so considering to get into robotics AI specifically but I feel like it will be harder to get into a degree apprenticeship related to that so maybe I should do a course in uni instead to get better chances but the idea of uni does not seem great for me , so I was stuck on what to do. What would you suggest?I initially planned to take a gap year build my CV more and hopefully get into the job

Asking about whether to get into uni despite not being fond of the idea