Educator’s Perspective: Using ChatGPT to Teach Business Analytics
By Dr. Ning Yang
Assistant Professor, Information Systems and Supply Chain Management, Loyola University Chicago and President, Nexin LLC
AI’s impact on business analytics and its practical applications has been rapidly increasing. For example, Statista forecasts that the global AI market will reach almost $2 trillion by 2030 (Chart 1). Bloomberg Intelligence looks for the GenAI market alone to hit $1.3 trillion by 2032 (Chart 2).
Chart 1
Chart 2
Use case include analysis automation, fraud detection, supply chain optimization, churn prediction, market basket analysis, and risk management, among others. With the help of AI-driven business analytics, companies can identify trends and gain insights using machine learning to process complex data sets across multiple sources in real time.1 AI not only enhances the capabilities of analytic tools, but also affects the way individuals acquire coding skills for such tools. It offers a wealth of learning resources for coding, particularly through the utilization of large language models like ChatGPT, which leverages natural language processing for seamless interaction.2 This makes learning how to code more intuitive and accessible. Therefore, AI empowers individuals to acquire coding skills at an accelerated rate. This development presents both opportunities as well as some challenges in the realm of teaching coding languages within university analytic courses. As educators in business school, it is imperative for us to contemplate how best to integrate ChatGPT into the analytics course design.
Initially, we must acknowledge the positive effects stemming from using ChatGPT. It is crucial to inform students on its proper utilization to enhance their learning experience. ChatGPT allows students to seek assistance whenever they encounter challenges, as it acts as a real-time tutor around the clock. For instance, if a student fails to understand part of the code, they can turn to ChatGPT for clarifications and they can ask for a line-by-line walkthrough.3 Students can also use ChatGPT to summarize the findings from the data. We can encourage students to interact with ChatGPT under some guidelines and rules.
Next, it is important to establish guidelines when introducing ChatGPT into our analytic courses. Students must acquire a strong foundational knowledge and understanding of the logic behind coding. It is detrimental if our students become reliant on ChatGPT for just solutions, with no understanding of how to construct it. Moreover, when they start to learn coding, beginner coders might not be able to ask the right question4 or pick up on small errors.5 At this stage, ChatGPT may cause more harm than it provides advantages if used inappropriately.
Third, it is our responsibility to thoughtfully design the assessments so that we can avoid students’ taking unnecessary shortcuts with ChatGPT. As instructors, we cannot prevent students from utilizing ChatGPT to find answers for their homework. Instead of take-home assignments, we can conduct more in-class assessments or discussions to ensure that they complete the assignments independently. Additionally, we can emphasize more on the logic behind coding instead of the act of coding itself. We can pose questions about the underlying logic of the code segments, prompt them to identify the issues within the code, quiz them with their own code, and ask them to debug errors in other classmates’ work. We can introduce more case studies and scenarios to motivate students to formulate hypotheses. We then test them on their validation of the hypotheses in a detailed plan.
Fourth, it is essential to address the drawbacks of AI and ChatGPT in business analytics. We must incorporate conversations and discussions regarding the ethical issues of using AI in business analytics. These discussions should include security and privacy concerns, social risks,6 AI data bias,7 and fairness in AI models. We need to educate our students how to use ChatGPT responsibly in business analytics.
Finally, the ultimate goal of an analytics course is to cultivate future business analysts. Students must learn how to engage in creative thinking, conduct research independently, persist with trials and errors, collaborate in teams, and communicate effectively. Similar to other business courses, students learn by tackling real business problems. We can include ChatGPT as part of their final projects, where they are required to demonstrate how they utilize ChatGPT in data analysis and reporting.
ChatGPT represents a potent resource and remains a powerful tool for our students in analytics courses. As educators, it is essential for us to offer consistent guidance and establish clear usage protocols for integrating ChatGPT into the classroom, especially at the early stages. Just like any other tool that we have encountered, there are both advantages and disadvantages associated with its applications. It is crucial not to be overwhelmed by it or overly reliant on it. In sum, it is important to consistently remind our students of the fact that a tool is just that – a tool.
[1] Business Analytics: The Future Is AI and It Is Here, Andot
[2] How to Use ChatGPT to Write Code, PluralSight
[3] Learn How to Code with ChatGPT, Geeky Gadgets
[4] How to Effectively STart Coding in the Era of ChatGPT, Medium
[5] Can Generative AI Teach You Code? It's Complicated, Code Academy
[6] Dark Side of AI: How to Make Artificial Intelligence Trustworthy, Information Week
[7] Algorithmic Basics: The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence, Actian
About the author
Dr. Ning Yang is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems in Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business. Her research interests include but are not limited to technology uses and adoptions, AI awareness, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, Business Analytics, and pedagogy. She has taught courses inculding Business Analytics, System Requirements, Data Mining, and Introduction to Information Systems. She has papers published in the Journal of Internet Medical Research and AIS Transactions on Replication Research. She was selected and presented her work in both AMCIS and ICIS doctoral consortium in 2020.
By Dr. Ning Yang
Assistant Professor, Information Systems and Supply Chain Management, Loyola University Chicago and President, Nexin LLC
AI’s impact on business analytics and its practical applications has been rapidly increasing. For example, Statista forecasts that the global AI market will reach almost $2 trillion by 2030 (Chart 1). Bloomberg Intelligence looks for the GenAI market alone to hit $1.3 trillion by 2032 (Chart 2).
Use case include analysis automation, fraud detection, supply chain optimization, churn prediction, market basket analysis, and risk management, among others. With the help of AI-driven business analytics, companies can identify trends and gain insights using machine learning to process complex data sets across multiple sources in real time.1 AI not only enhances the capabilities of analytic tools, but also affects the way individuals acquire coding skills for such tools. It offers a wealth of learning resources for coding, particularly through the utilization of large language models like ChatGPT, which leverages natural language processing for seamless interaction.2 This makes learning how to code more intuitive and accessible. Therefore, AI empowers individuals to acquire coding skills at an accelerated rate. This development presents both opportunities as well as some challenges in the realm of teaching coding languages within university analytic courses. As educators in business school, it is imperative for us to contemplate how best to integrate ChatGPT into the analytics course design.
Initially, we must acknowledge the positive effects stemming from using ChatGPT. It is crucial to inform students on its proper utilization to enhance their learning experience. ChatGPT allows students to seek assistance whenever they encounter challenges, as it acts as a real-time tutor around the clock. For instance, if a student fails to understand part of the code, they can turn to ChatGPT for clarifications and they can ask for a line-by-line walkthrough.3 Students can also use ChatGPT to summarize the findings from the data. We can encourage students to interact with ChatGPT under some guidelines and rules.
Next, it is important to establish guidelines when introducing ChatGPT into our analytic courses. Students must acquire a strong foundational knowledge and understanding of the logic behind coding. It is detrimental if our students become reliant on ChatGPT for just solutions, with no understanding of how to construct it. Moreover, when they start to learn coding, beginner coders might not be able to ask the right question4 or pick up on small errors.5 At this stage, ChatGPT may cause more harm than it provides advantages if used inappropriately.
Third, it is our responsibility to thoughtfully design the assessments so that we can avoid students’ taking unnecessary shortcuts with ChatGPT. As instructors, we cannot prevent students from utilizing ChatGPT to find answers for their homework. Instead of take-home assignments, we can conduct more in-class assessments or discussions to ensure that they complete the assignments independently. Additionally, we can emphasize more on the logic behind coding instead of the act of coding itself. We can pose questions about the underlying logic of the code segments, prompt them to identify the issues within the code, quiz them with their own code, and ask them to debug errors in other classmates’ work. We can introduce more case studies and scenarios to motivate students to formulate hypotheses. We then test them on their validation of the hypotheses in a detailed plan.
Fourth, it is essential to address the drawbacks of AI and ChatGPT in business analytics. We must incorporate conversations and discussions regarding the ethical issues of using AI in business analytics. These discussions should include security and privacy concerns, social risks,6 AI data bias,7 and fairness in AI models. We need to educate our students how to use ChatGPT responsibly in business analytics.
Finally, the ultimate goal of an analytics course is to cultivate future business analysts. Students must learn how to engage in creative thinking, conduct research independently, persist with trials and errors, collaborate in teams, and communicate effectively. Similar to other business courses, students learn by tackling real business problems. We can include ChatGPT as part of their final projects, where they are required to demonstrate how they utilize ChatGPT in data analysis and reporting.
ChatGPT represents a potent resource and remains a powerful tool for our students in analytics courses. As educators, it is essential for us to offer consistent guidance and establish clear usage protocols for integrating ChatGPT into the classroom, especially at the early stages. Just like any other tool that we have encountered, there are both advantages and disadvantages associated with its applications. It is crucial not to be overwhelmed by it or overly reliant on it. In sum, it is important to consistently remind our students of the fact that a tool is just that – a tool.
[1] Business Analytics: The Future Is AI and It Is Here, Andot
[2] How to Use ChatGPT to Write Code, PluralSight
[3] Learn How to Code with ChatGPT, Geeky Gadgets
[4] How to Effectively STart Coding in the Era of ChatGPT, Medium
[5] Can Generative AI Teach You Code? It's Complicated, Code Academy
[6] Dark Side of AI: How to Make Artificial Intelligence Trustworthy, Information Week
[7] Algorithmic Basics: The Dark Side of Artificial Intelligence, Actian