Data Analytics

Get Ahead with ChatGPT’s New Data Analysis Plugin


The Gist

  • New capabilities. ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis empowers users to conduct in-depth data analysis without coding expertise.
  • Subscription hurdle. Access to the powerful plugin is gated behind a ChatGPT Plus subscription fee.
  • Competitive edge. Compared to Google’s Bard, ChatGPT’s plugin offers specialized features but requires a subscription.

When ChatGPT was first introduced, professionals from every industry were intrigued and mesmerized by AI’s potential

Save for data analysts. 

Many developers working with data were impressed, but analysts remained somewhat skeptical. Generative AI provides answers that are not deterministic and can sometimes produce inconsistent information for use cases involving data models and programming syntax.

New features have quickly been introduced to help ChatGPT meet programming and data analysis needs more effectively. The most noteworthy is Code Interpreter, a software plugin that allows ChatGPT Plus users to run programs and conduct exploratory data analysis. The impact on analytics has been so significant that OpenAI rebranded the plugin as ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis to better reflect its capabilities.

Related Article: Microsoft’s Integration of Python in Excel Revolutionizes Data Analytics

How the ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis Plugin Works

Initiating the Advanced Data Analysis plugin is straightforward — it isn’t activated by default when you first open your ChatGPT Plus account. To access the plugin, ChatGPT Plus users log into their account, navigate to the settings page and select “Beta.” Advanced Data Analysis appears as one of the Beta menu options. Users then toggle the switch to activate the plugin. One caveat: Make sure the interface is set to “advanced” under GPT-4. To do so, click on the GPT-4 button and select “Advanced” from the menu.

ChatGPT ADA Setting screenshot: ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis PlugIn

ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis Setting: Second Menu

More Advanced Programming Tasks

Advanced Data Analysis allows ChatGPT Plus to perform more advanced programming tasks compared to standard ChatGPT. Users can prompt ChatGPT to run programs in addition to generating syntax as part of its responses. This opens up various possibilities for analyzing data within code, creating charts based on lines of programming, editing files and performing calculations.

File Upload Option

Advanced Data Analysis includes a file upload option, a feature previously unavailable in ChatGPT. The switch for this is located in the prompt window, represented by a plus sign within a circle icon. The plugin supports a wide range of audio, video and image files. It can read files up to 100 megabytes in size, interpret the file format and then deliver a relevant response.

The plugin is especially useful for data journalists and analysts who may need to conduct exploratory data analysis but are not proficient in R, SQL, Python or even Excel. Traditionally, an analyst required programming syntax to first clean the data before developing statistical inferences through regressions, classifications and other advanced analyses.

Data Enhancement Is Faster

Steps to enhance data can now be completed more quickly. The ability to manipulate data using descriptive natural language allows the model to create functions, populate tables and offer additional suggestions. For instance, when I uploaded a spreadsheet of NBA stats that my interns compiled this past summer, I asked ChatGPT to generate a chart ranking teams by their 3-point percentage.

ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis: Creating First Barplot screenshot
ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis: First Barplot screenshot

When I saw the result, I noticed that some of the numbers in the bar chart seemed off. Seven of the teams had significantly lower bars than the others, which was clearly an anomaly given that having nearly zero for an average three-point percentage is unlikely for NBA teams. Upon reviewing the uploaded spreadsheet, I found that a few rows contained percentage signs. I asked ChatGPT to correct the error. It recalculated the values and generated a new bar chart with accurate numbers, explaining its steps in a follow-up response to the initial prompt.



Source

Related Articles

Back to top button