If GPT-4 can automatically write SQL, will the role of an analyst change?

[Airbook]

Hey guys! We all know how LLMs can do all sorts of things and there is a strong inflection point in how things are done today.

Traditionally, analysts were hired because of their technical skills to query data. However, if we look at things in the future- GPT could probably do all the complex queries by simply asking for it.

Do you see the role of an analyst changing then?

[richo24]

GPT-4 won't be taking the jobs of analysts in the near future but I think it definitely can offload some of their work. People who aren't familiar with SQL (think marketing, sales, C-suite) could potentially get answers to generally more simple business questions like "Which product had the least sales within the past quarter" and GPT-4 would create the SQL with their database schema in mind

[mannewalis]

You still need to know what question to ask, I think it is just using another language to ask the question.

[Airbook]

That's true. Asking the right questions is the hard part and for that to happen, it may require analysts to be closer to business teams than ever before, to understand the necessary context.

[lisasays]

You might want to look at it this way:

As an analyst, your job isn't to query the data.

It's to understand the data - and as the other commenter put it, to know what questions to ask.