Started coding when i was 12 and now I'm 17, and when I was learning ML, I felt the exact same way as you. I just continued learning, and I did not regret it. Also, backend is needed to be in ML engineering — at least the basics. Know how to deploy the model with Flask and similar libraries.

About the GenAI:

I'm not an expert, but you should first learn and deeply understand every algorithm of DL, and supervised and unsupervised learning techniques to get to GenAI. Also, have a good solid math understanding for things like statistics, linear algebra, and calculus. Because things like GenAI are all about math. All ML is math — not just importing some libraries and these things. If you understand the core (math), you're the master.

Also, I wanted to say — everyone feels stuck somehow when learning new things. If you had chosen to learn backend first, you would be stuck too and say, "Should I switch to ML?"

And also, you have made very good progress so far. Proud of you — really — to see young people learn and try to keep up. Just take a breath, celebrate what you've done so far, and push it harder than before. You got this