While the latest slew of generative AI tools have wowed people with their capacity to generate human-like outputs, many users have also found, over time, that they’re actually not hugely beneficial in terms of wholesale coverage of manual tasks. You still have to understand what you’re asking these systems to do, in order to ensure that the info is correct, and you still need base process knowledge to maximize their value.
But for a lot of manual tasks, ChatGPT and other tools will be transformative, once people fully understand how to incorporate them and integrate them functionally.
And on that front, this could be big.
Today, OpenAI has announced that it’s updated the data analysis capacity of ChatGPT-4o, which will make it easier to feed in your own spreadsheets and info, and have ChatGPT sort it all out for you.
Which will reduce the need for in-depth knowledge of Excel formulas to come up with good looking, valuable data analysis.
We’re rolling out interactive tables and charts along with the ability to add files directly from Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive into ChatGPT. Available to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users over the coming weeks. https://t.co/Fu2bgMChXt pic.twitter.com/M9AHLx5BKr
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) May 16, 2024
As explained by OpenAI:
“These improvements build on ChatGPT’s ability to understand datasets and complete tasks in natural language. To start, upload one or more data files, and ChatGPT will analyze your data by writing and running Python code on your behalf. It can handle a range of data tasks, like merging and cleaning large datasets, creating charts, and uncovering insights. This makes it easier for beginners to perform in-depth analyses and saves experts time on routine data-cleaning tasks.”
Users of ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise will be able to upload files from Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive, then use ChatGPT’s conversational interface to refine their datasets, and extract relevant insights.
“When you add a dataset, ChatGPT will create an interactive table that you can expand to a full-screen view so you can follow along as it updates during your analysis. Click on specific areas to ask follow-up questions, or choose from one of ChatGPT’s suggested prompts to go deeper into your analysis.”
This is where the latest AI systems will provide real value and utility, not as replacements for humans as such, but as assistants on manual labor tasks, which would normally take hours of work to put in place.
I mean, you’ll still need the initial data, so data entry and input remains a key step. But once you have the info available, ChatGPT is now much better equipped to provide you with all types of analysis, and visualizations, to streamline your process.
Should you still double-check its outputs to ensure they’re correct? Absolutely, and again, these tools are only as valuable as the questions you ask, so you still need to know your stuff, and what you’re looking to find.
But this is a solid update, with a range of uses, which could come in very handy for social media managers.
You can read more about OpenAI’s latest data analysis update here.
