How to Use ChatGPT to Make Charts and Tables
I’m thrilled to share my enthusiasm for charts and graphs. Give me a cool chart to dig into, and I’m unreasonably happy. Is that weird? I don’t think so.
As it turns out, ChatGPT does an excellent job of creating charts and tables. And given that this ubiquitous generative AI chatbot can synthesize a ton of information into something chart-worthy, what ChatGPT gives up in pretty presentation it more than makes up for in informational value.
How to Use ChatGPT to Make Charts and Tables
Using the Advanced Data Analysis
Earlier, we discussed which charting tools are available in which versions of ChatGPT. But there’s more to it than simply charting tools. To use ChatGPT productively, you need to understand what the various editions can do.
A Guideline for Free and Paid Users
Historically, OpenAI has introduced major new features into its Plus version ($20/month) and then, after a time, rolled them out to free users. As such, it’s often challenging to tell you which features exist in the free version vs. the Plus version.
Here’s a general guideline, especially as it pertains to the rest of this article. The free version is generally more limited than the Plus version. That means fewer queries per session, less data to analyze, possibly a slightly older LLM version available, longer wait times for responses, and so on. Basically, you’re in the cheap seats if you use the free version, and you get a more premium experience if you pay for the Plus version.
Creating Charts and Tables with ChatGPT
Let’s start with an example. For this demonstration, we’ll be working with the top five cities in the world by population.
List the Top Five Cities in the World by Population, Including Country
I asked this question to ChatGPT, and here’s what I got back:
The resulting chart is simple to create. Just tell ChatGPT you want a table:
### Make a Table of the Top Five Cities in the World by Population, Including Country
Notice that it also provided population data, even though I didn’t explicitly ask for a population column.
You can manipulate and customize a table by giving ChatGPT more detailed instructions. Using the free version, we’ll add a population count field. Of course, that data is out of date, but it’s presented anyway:
### Specify Certain Details for the Table, like Field Order and Units
Here, I’m moving the country first and compressing the population numbers.
### Making a Bar Chart
ChatGPT can make line charts, bar charts, histograms, pie charts, scatter plots, heatmaps, box plots, area charts, bubble charts, Gantt charts, Pareto charts, network diagrams, Sankey diagrams, choropleth maps, radar charts, word clouds, treemaps, and 3D charts.
In this example, we’re going to make a simple bar chart.
### Make a Bar Chart of the Top Five Cities in the World by Population
### Uploading a Dataset
One of Advanced Data Analytics’ superpowers is the ability to upload a dataset. For our example, I downloaded the Popular Baby Names dataset from Data.gov. This is a comma-separated file of New York City baby names from 2011-2014. Even though it’s a decade out of date, it’s fun to play with.
### Creating a Pie Chart
Look at ChatGPT’s response carefully. Here’s where we see inaccuracies in its response. I asked for the male wedge to be green and the female wedge to be yellow. In the chart, the AI reversed that, but in the descriptive text, it got it right. Don’t be afraid to correct the AI.
### Grouping Data
As we saw earlier, the data collected includes ethnicity. Here’s how to see the distribution of the various ethnicities New York recorded in the early 2010s:
### Show the Distribution of Ethnicity in the Dataset using a Pie Chart, Using Only Light Colors
Apparently, New York didn’t properly normalize its data. It used “WHITE NON HISPANIC” and “WHITE NON HISP” together, “BLACK NON HISPANIC” and “BLACK NON HISP” together, and “ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER” and “ASIAN AND PACI” together. This resulted in inaccurate representations of the data.
### Conclusion
As we saw, ChatGPT is capable of creating charts and tables from various data sources. With its ability to import datasets and create a wide range of visualizations, it’s an excellent tool for data analysis and presentation.
**FAQ**
### Is the Data Uploaded to ChatGPT for Charting Kept Private or is There a Risk of Data Exposure?
Assume that there’s always a privacy risk.
I asked this question to ChatGPT, and this is what it told me:
Data privacy is a priority for ChatGPT. Uploaded data is used solely for the purpose of the user’s current session and is not stored long-term or used for any other purposes. However, for highly sensitive data, users should always exercise caution and consider using the Enterprise version of ChatGPT, which offers enhanced data confidentiality.
**Also: Generative AI Brings New Risks to Everyone. Here’s How You Can Stay Safe**
My recommendation: Don’t trust ChatGPT or any generative AI tool. The Enterprise version is supposed to have more privacy controls, but I would recommend you only upload data that you won’t mind finding its way to public visibility.
