CSC140 - Applied AI in Analytics
Course Description
Artificial Intelligence is transforming how analysts approach data, enabling faster insights, more accurate predictions, and smarter automation. This course will introduce you to practical applications of AI in analytics, with a focus on ChatGPT Pro, Google Gemini Pro, and Microsoft Copilot as the primary hands-on tools. George Sheets Explore will be demonstrated for quick AI-assisted data exploration and visualization.
Participants will work directly with real datasets to clean, visualize, forecast, and summarize data using AI-powered workflows. Through guided labs, collaborative exercises, and comparative tool use, you will learn how to integrate AI into analytics processes, generate actionable insights, and enhance your professional capabilities. Ethical considerations and quality checks are embedded throughout to ensure responsible, reliable AI use in real-world analytics contexts.
Course Outline
Session 1: Introduction to AI in Analytics
- What AI is (and isn’t) in the context of analytics
- Overview of machine learning, generative AI, and automation
- How leading organizations are using AI in analytics
- Industry-specific applications of AI in analytics
- Where AI adds value and potential limitations
Session 2: AI for Data Preparation and Exploration
- AI-assisted data cleaning, transformation, and summarization
- Natural language queries for exploratory data analysis
- ChatGPT Pro and Gemini Pro for dataset prep and visualization
- Traditional vs. AI-powered approaches to data exploration
Session 3: Predictive Analytics and Forecasting with AI
- Fundamentals of predictive modeling and forecasting
- Business applications: customer segmentation, churn prediction, sales forecasting
- Building a simple predictive model with an AI-enabled tool
- Best practices for validating AI models and managing bias
- Comparative evaluation of AI-enabled tools (ChatGPT Pro, Gemini Pro, Microsoft Copilot, optional Google Sheets Explore)
- Embedded ethics considerations
- Capstone project and presentation: Groups analyze a business dataset using AI-enabled tools
Recommendations
- Register early to secure your spot, using the SMU CAPE Student Portal. Please be aware that insufficient enrollment may cause course cancellation.
- If you need registration assistance or would like to enroll after online registration has closed, please call 214-768-2273 or contact smuthink@smu.edu.