Data Analysis Assistance

You no longer need to be an Excel wizard to find insights in a spreadsheet. ChatGPT (using the "Advanced Data Analysis" or "Code Interpreter" features) can perform complex calculations using natural language.

1. Identifying Trends

Paste a small set of data or upload a CSV.

• "Look at these sales figures from the last 12 months. Which month had the highest growth? What was the average monthly revenue?"

2. Finding Outliers

AI is excellent at spotting things that "don't fit."

• "Identify any anomalies in this expense report. Are there any charges that are significantly higher than the average for that category?"

graph LR
    Raw[Raw CSV Data] --> AI[ChatGPT Analysis]
    AI --> Trends[Trend Lines identified]
    AI --> Outliers[Oddities Spotted]
    AI --> Correlation[Hidden Factors found]

3. Creating "Plain English" Queries

Instead of writing complex SQL or VLOOKUPs, just ask.

• "Give me the total sales for 'Region A' where the 'Product Category' was 'Electronics'."

4. Visualizing Data

If you have access to the advanced features, ChatGPT can generate charts.

• "Generate a bar chart showing the comparison between our 2023 and 2024 revenue for each department."

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Hands-on: The Sales Auditor

1. Create a dummy list of 10 items: Item, Category, Price, Quantity.
2. Prompt: "Summarize this data. Tell me which category generated the most revenue and what percentage of total revenue it represents."

Key Takeaways

• Sanitize your data: Remove customer names or private IDs before uploading.
• Use AI to summarize and spot patterns.
• Natural language is the new SQL.