The AI New Era: How Does GPT Impact a Career in Data Analysis? — SWOT Analysis Based Professional Strategy Planning

The Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) has been taking the world by storm, engulfing the globe with its astonishing speed and vast amount of data. As for me, it primarily influences my career trajectory in data analysis.

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Will the field of data analysis die?

Statements such as “I genuinely think this field will die” and “Is it worth becoming an analyst now? (Because of chat gpt)” pop up on Reddit, reflecting the anxieties about stepping into this field or the future of this domain. In this article, I will share my perspective, combining various community platform discussions and employing SWOT analysis to design relevant career strategies. I believe that the essence of knowledge and social phenomena need to return to individual definitions and pursuits. Although new technologies may cause panic, they can also give birth to endless creativity.

Upon reading this article, you will gain insight into:

1. How GPT is transforming the field of data analysis: What impact does GPT have on the data analysis industry? How is it changing the profession?
2. My cross-disciplinary career transition experience
3. Observing the current professional situation through SWOT analysis: Identifying personal strengths and weaknesses, effectively utilizing strengths, overcoming weaknesses, seizing opportunities, and discovering the “third way.”
4. Understanding how to innovate from panic: The power of critical thinking.

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My Background

With a Master’s in Social Work, I have been working as a data analyst for a year and a half, primarily responsible for producing various analysis reports for the sales team and setting up and monitoring daily advertising.

My learning path: Vocational training (Excel, Python, PowerBI, SQL) → Relevant certification (Two TQC+ Python certificates)→ Learning at work (BigQuery, domain knowledge, automating work with Python) → Self-study (Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate) → Online Master Data Science (MSDS)

SWOT Analysis of “Data Analysis Career” vs “GPT Technology”:

Strengths: What strengths can be leveraged to use GPT for career development?

1. Non-programmers can easily perform data analysis.
2. Precise prompting: My background in social science and experience in data analysis allow me to use GPT more precisely to accomplish tasks, such as automating workflows and integrating APIs with calendars.
3. Creativity: I consider GPT as a consultant , always available to answer queries and provide solutions.
4. English proficiency: As GPT has stated, “my proficiency in languages other than English might not be as high,” meaning that proficient English communication can better leverage GPT technology.

Weaknesses: What are the weaknesses facing the current data analysis environment?

1. Superficial output: While GPT can complete actual tasks, the knowledge and concepts within still rely on personal effort to learn, highlighting that if one relies solely on GPT without improving their programming skills, their role in the job is highly replaceable.
2. Lack of background in mathematics and concepts: Although GPT can cover basic data analysis (e.g., Code Interpreter), understanding things like modeling and pipeline setup still requires some interpretation and deeper knowledge. As someone who comes from a social work background, this is where I am most deficient. To venture further into this field, I need to bridge this gap.

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Threats: What threats does the emergence of GPT pose to a career in data analysis?

1. Reduced demand for entry-level data analysts: The advent of GPT means anyone can generate reports on their own. For sales and marketing teams, being familiar with GPT and having marketing concepts might allow them to produce more accurate reports than those provided by entry-level data analysts. This could reduce the number of data analyst positions, or raising the entry barrier for this field.
2. Risk of being phased out by the market without learning: In my view, learning GPT, especially for newcomers to the workforce, is a necessary skill. For instance, instead of spending 20 minutes drafting an email to a senior executive (often with anxiety), you may be able to generate a courteous, yet effective message in 5 minutes using GPT. No matter the occupation, if you can properly use GPT, it’s undeniable that it can improve work efficiency and expand thinking.

Opportunities: How can GPT or other resources help broaden future career choices?

1. Using GPT as a personal tutor: In the past, learning a particular program or concept often involved fragmented searches for specific syntaxes without understanding their interconnectedness. With GPT, akin to having a personal tutor, I can confirm my understanding of certain concepts through questioning — a crucial part of internalized learning.
2. GPT as a personal assistant: Creating categories for company-specific knowledge, Python, R, SQL, MSDS, etc., helps build a knowledge system for each subject and facilitates continuous questioning.
3. MSDS course (or any other self-learning course): My lack of a mathematics background and coding ability can be supplemented through a master’s course. Not only will it benefit my future development, but it will also make up for the deep theoretical knowledge.
4. GPT is not yet popularized: As of November 2022, GPT had begun to surge, and although it rapidly entered various companies and the public eye, it still has a long way to go before it can create a disruptive impact on the entire knowledge system. In addition, the accuracy of GPT needs to be taken into account, so the threat posed by GPT can still be prepared for in advance through learning. Perhaps in the future, there will even be a position for a “GPT prompt optimizer”.

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Current career strategy

1. Recognize the advantages of ones’ background: As someone who transitioned from the field of social work to a profession dominated by mathematics, I always felt that I was “not qualified” to become a more professional analyst. However, through GPT, I found that compared to other colleagues, I am better at providing GPT with conceptual connections and critical thinking through text. I should seize the opportunity to take advantage of my strengths and learn in depth.
2. Advantage plus opportunity — Using GPT to complete the MSDS course: In my current MSDS course, I have many concepts that need to be chewed over and over again, and I need to spend a lot of time integrating different knowledge systems. As I mentioned, The existence of GPT is like a teaching assistant. I have discovered several times through the method of counter-questioning that my thinking is correct. This is a very precious experience. What I lack is not mathematical talent, but the opportunity to ask questions continuously and a lot of practice.

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Conclusion

The emergence of GPT once made me feel like the working population that was eliminated after the industrial revolution. However, instead of avoiding and accepting new technology, it’s better to try to get close to it and understand it.

The book “Humankind: A Hopeful History” states that the reason why our ancestors, Homo Sapiens, survived instead of the more robust and intelligent Neanderthals is because we are accustomed to knowledge sharing and communication. Because of the flow of information, people do not need to establish a knowledge system from 0 to 1.

I believe that GPT is a way to share knowledge in a newer way and is an innovative crystallization of human history. Knowledge is no longer a symbol of the rights of certain populations. Everyone has the opportunity to learn data analysis and has the opportunity to develop towards more creative work.

“All research begins with linkage,” was the first sentence of my mentor when studying research methods. This concept was passed on from her mentor to her, and she passed it on to me, and I passed it on again in a different way.

The method of knowledge inheritance will become more and more convenient, but the internalization of knowledge needs to return to the individual, which is the so-called linkage, to extend knowledge and closely connect it with individuals and society.

We don’t need to start learning from making fire by drilling wood, as long as we step out of the cave, we will find endless fields of flowers.