A New Era of Learning: Considerations for ChatGPT as a Tool to Enhance Statistics and Data Science Education

ChatGPT is one of many generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools that has emerged recently, creating controversy in the education community with concerns about its potential to be used for plagiarism and to undermine students’ ability to think independently. Recent publications have criticized the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI tools in the classroom, with little focus on the potential benefits. This article focuses on the potential of ChatGPT as an educational tool for statistics and data science. It encourages readers to consider the history of trepidation surrounding introducing new technology in the classroom, such as the calculator. We explore the possibility of leveraging ChatGPT’s capabilities in statistics and data science education, providing examples of how ChatGPT can aid in developing course materials and suggestions for how educators can prompt students to interact with ChatGPT responsibly. As educators, we can guide the use of generative AI tools in statistics and data science classrooms so that students and educators can leverage the benefits of this technology.