Smith professor Sean Cao is making it easier for business students to understand how to use artificial intelligence.
Cao, director and co-founder of Smith’s AI Initiative for Capital Market Research, wrote a new textbook on how to use artificial intelligence for accounting and finance.
Usually, learning how to apply AI tools for business starts with programming courses. But Cao takes a different approach that begins with a foundation in the data and how to use it. Prerequisite coding requirements are minimized for both instructors and students throughout the book.
He says the context of using AI is so important, that he’s making the book available for free online. And it’s not just for students.
“I think a lot of firms right now want to be using AI technology, but they don’t know what is the best way to start,” Cao says. “With the book, students can see examples of how alternative data and LLM are used in accounting and finance. The use cases I describe in the book can be customized for other industries as well.”
Cao’s book is what first got Jacqueline A. Cardello ’93 excited about Smith’s AI Initiative for Capital Market Research. Cardello is president and managing partner of GRF CPAs & Advisors and provides the seed money for the initiative. The partnership has Cardello and GRF working closely with the Smith School.
“We’re comparing notes and sharing information,” Cardello says. “We’re meeting regularly and sharing what we’re seeing in terms of the demand we’re getting from our clients and where we feel artificial intelligence can help. We’re hearing what they are teaching in the classroom and what the students are asking for.”
Cao is also designing a master’s level course that will launch this fall, with plans to adapt the content for an undergraduate course. Cao got a Smith School teaching grant to kickstart the project before Cardello and GRF came on board.
Cao says a lot of business students may not have the quantitative programming skills AI developers need, but that’s why he starts by showing students the use case for AI technology and cultivating their interests first before moving into technic programming.
“We want students to know where they can look for information and how to find it, using public company filings and the right AI tools to sift through the data,” says Cao.
For the book and the course, Cao’s goal is for students to be able to apply AI and machine learning tools to generate and analyze unstructured financial data, such as conference call transcripts, press releases, annual reports, ESG reports, social media disclosures, product images and fund managers’ disclosures.
They learn which emerging AI technologies can be used to sift through that data, like Google BERT, ChatGPT and other large language models (LLM) and AI tools.
“We want students to understand all of these fundamental concepts without too much of a programming or math background,” says Cao. “Then once they understand the fundamentals, we know better how to use GPT and its API in an in-depth way.”
The book also includes access to a companion library of educational videos that go with each chapter, including tutorials on how to use the GPT application interface and understand necessary coding workflows.
“We’re teaching students how to fine-tune ChatGPT using prompt engineering to answer business questions better,” he says, and knowing how to do that is very relevant to businesses.
The textbook isn’t just a foundation for newly designed courses, says Cao.
“Even if you teach traditional courses, you can use some of the chapters as supplementary information and to cultivate student interest in AI.”
The book has been used in PhD seminars at Indiana University, the University of Texas at Dallas and Emory University and can be potentially adopted by undergraduate or master programs.
After completing the book, students should have a clear picture of the diverse use cases for AI tools in the fields of accounting and finance, Cao says. It could also be a springboard for students who want to pursue more technical courses.
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