Since ChatGPT’s release less than a year ago, it is no surprise that people are wondering which jobs will go extinct. People use ChatGPT for doing all sorts of things such as drafting emails, generating code, etc…
As of September this year, Business Insider (2023) published an article listing jobs that are most likely at risk to go extinct because of ChatGPT; one of the jobs mentioned in the article is the one of data analysts.
As a student in Business Information Management, I find this information intriguing. I’ve definitely considered becoming a data analyst myself and I’m curious to know to what extent ChatGPT will impact the role of data analysts.
Interestingly, in an article by News18 (2023), it is mentioned that employing ChatGPT to do analytics “costs less than 1% of a human analyst”. This doesn’t surprise me since anyone can access ChatGPT and anyone can ask it to analyze data, even if the person had no clue what they were doing. Moreover, in an article by KDNuggets (2023), it is mentioned that ChatGPT and AI have made data scientist jobs a lot more accessible to the wider crowd. Before ChatGPT, data scientists were in very high demand due to their valuable skill sets (KDNuggets, 2023). Moreover, with the current version of ChatGPT (ChatGPT 4), one can upload csv files and get an in depth analysis in seconds (KDNuggets, 2023)
Based on these news articles, one could assume that data analysts would soon go extinct. However, that is not entirely true.
Both articles have stated that even the latest version of ChatGPT (ChatGPT 4) has its drawbacks. For instance, it can generate bad analyses and therefore give misleading results (News18, 2023; KDNuggets, 2023).
One thing is for sure, the role of data analysts will definitely change. In the last two hundred years, many roles have changed or even gone extinct thanks to technological advancements. However, that human analysts will go extinct is still too soon say!
References
Business Insider (2023). Chatgpt may be coming for our jobs. here are the 10 roles that AI is most likely to replace. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-jobs-at-risk-replacement-artificial-intelligence-ai-labor-trends-2023-02?international=true&r=US&IR=T
News18 (2023). CHATGPT can do human-like data analysis at a fraction of the cost: What it means. News18. https://www.news18.com/tech/chatgpt-can-do-human-like-data-analysis-at-a-fraction-of-the-cost-7962229.html
Will CHATGPT replace data scientists?. KDnuggets. (n.d.). Will CHATGPT replace data scientists? https://www.kdnuggets.com/2023/06/chatgpt-replace-data-scientists.html
That’s actually a super interesting topic, one that also intrigues me and inspired me to write a blog on it as well. I do actually believe that the job of data analysts pur sang is in danger and therefore the concern raised by the articles you reference is very valid. A lot of the basic tasks related to data analysis can be performed by genAI tools already, imagine what it can do in a few years. The upside definitely is productivity gains as a result of this. But I think that it is important to realize that AI in this context is a tool and not a complete replacement for human expertise; the requirements for the latter are definitely changing. At the same time this highlights value of deep domain expertise. You looked at how genAI tools are still prone to errors but if you look at the human side, you see how human data scientists and coders bring a unique skill set to the table; they possess the ability to interpret, contextualize, and make nuanced decisions based on data. AI can undoubtedly assist in the technical aspects of the job, streamlining processes and automating tasks, but it cannot replicate the human touch required for holistic and insightful data analysis.
A positive point is that you are connecting the dangers of ChatGPT to your own life talking about the challenges and threats it might bring to your own career opportunities. However, I think you are highlighting the problem only from one perspective only mentioning why it is dangerous: that it is cheap and that it does things faster and better. However ChatGPT can not pitch presentations, or explain certain results in depth from person to person. Which are essential parts of the job. In general a very interesting topic!
Interesting! As a BIM student, who is interested in data analytics and data science, it may sound scary. While the perspective you have provided is intriguing, there are few points that may be added to the discussion.
First, there are companies with different structures and while AI may be easy to implement at smaller firms, it might prove to be challenging exercise for larger enterprises with stiff, glued structures as these may not have that big flexibility in changing processes over night. I reckon that AI may be eventually implemented at big corporate bodies but it will take many years to do so.
Another thing is, what my colleagues mentioned above, the generative AI capability to provide incorrect outputs. I understand that AI may be utilized only once the QA (Quality Assurance) department gives XYZ department the right to do so. Net, with current state of generative AI it is less likely that it may be implemented for data analysis on a full scale. However, it can for sure change in time.
On a different note, I 100% agree that data analyst roles will change. What I see is that data analysts will still handle large data sets, but with the help of AI. There are many processes in the workflow that may be utilized by AI, yet there is a need for a human to oversee it. Therefore, I imagine that soon there will be more and more positions that are advertised for data analytics with AI addition.