A Wharton professor says a new $20 ChatGPT tool can code and make graphs 'in seconds'. These tasks took him weeks to master during his doctorate.
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- ChatGPT's new Code Interpreter tool was released to paying customers on 7 July.
- A Wharton professor said: 'Things that took me weeks to master in my Ph.D. were completed in seconds' by the tool.
- Even without Code Interpreter, ChatGPT already had some code-writing abilities.
ChatGPT's newest feature — a new plugin for writing code — is marking "the strongest case yet for a future where AI is a valuable companion for sophisticated knowledge work," according to a Wharton professor.
In a blog published on Friday, Ethan Mollick, an associate professor of management, detailed his first impressions of using Code Interpreter to write code, perform complex calculations, and generate charts — saying this new tool made ChatGPT an effective data scientist.
"Things that took me weeks to master in my PhD were completed in seconds by the AI, and there were generally fewer errors than I would expect from a human analyst," Mollick wrote in the blog.
ChatGPT-creator OpenAI released Code Interpreter to Plus subscribers on July 7. A ChatGPT Plus subscription costs $20 a month.
Mollick also highlighted the tool's human-like ability to "reason," as it was flexible enough to have a dialogue about different ways it could analyze data uploaded by users. As such, the tool "might be most useful for those who do not code at all," he wrote.
Even without Code Interpreter, ChatGPT already had some code-writing abilities. Insider's Aki Ito reported this was already shaping up to disrupt software development jobs.
To be sure, Mollick wrote that this tool should not be considered a replacement for human analysis, advising users to primarily use it for automating repetitive tasks — such as merging or cleaning datasets.
The tool's release comes amid increasing scrutiny of OpenAI's data privacy and collection practices, as evidenced by a series of lawsuits — most recently from comedian Sarah Silverman — that have been launched against the company accusing it of unauthorized use of data.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also said that "regulation will be critical" when it comes to AI tools.
Academics have also flagged privacy and ethics concerns inherent with uploading files onto Code Interpreter for analysis.
Peter Tennant, an associate professor at the University of Leeds and a fellow at the Turing Institute tweeted: "Please don't use ChatGPT to analyse data. I can't believe I have to say this."
—Peter Tennant, PhD (@PWGTennant) July 9, 2023
Ethan Mollick did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.