Linear Regression using ChatGPT

[Originally published on March 7, 2023]

The ChatGPT is a large language model (LLM) from OpenAI that was released a few months ago. Since then, it has created lots of excitement in terms of a whole range of possible uses for it, lots and lots of hype, and a lot of concern about harm that might result from its use. Within five days after its release, the ChatGPT had over one million users and that number has been growing since then. The hype arising from ChatGPT is not surprising; the field of AI from its inception has been hyped. One just need to be reminded of the Noble Prize winner Herbert Simon’s statement “Machines will be capable, within twenty years, of doing any work that a man can do” made in 1965. Several concerns about the potential harm due to ChatGPT’s use have been expressed. It has been found to generate inaccurate information as facts that is presented very convincingly. Its capabilities are so good that Elon Musk recently tweeted “ChatGPT is scary good. We are not far from dangerously strong AI.”

Since ChatGPT’s release, many companies and researchers have been playing with its capabilities and this has given rise to what is being characterized as Generative AI. It has been used to write essays, emails, and even scientific articles, prepare travel plans, solve math problems, write code and create websites among many other usages. Many companies have incorporated it into their Apps. And of course, Microsoft has integrated it into its Bing search engine.

Given all the excitement about it, I decided to use it to build a linear regression model. The result of my interaction with the ChatGPT are presented below. The complete interaction was over in a minute or so; primarily slowed by my one finger typing.

So, all it took to build the regression model was to feed the data and let the ChatGPT know the predictor variables. Looks like a great tool. But like any other tool, it needs to be used in a constructive manner. I hope you like this simple demo of ChatGPT’s capabilities. I encourage you to try on your own. OpenAI is free but you will need to register.