Ali Bolcakan
Postdoctoral Affiliates Fellow, 2025 Cohort, Michigan Institute for Data & AI in Society
Tutorial Overview
Focus: Using AI to support data preparation and quality improvement.
This session will examine how AI can help researchers think through data cleaning tasks before formal analysis begins. The emphasis will be on using AI as a support tool to identify inconsistencies, plan cleaning workflows, document decisions, and generate reusable code templates, while keeping human review central.
Possible hands-on activities:
- Identify common data quality issues in a sample dataset
- Draft a cleaning plan for missing values, duplicates, or formatting inconsistencies
- Generate starter code for basic cleaning steps in Python
- Create a data cleaning log or documentation template
- Compare raw and cleaned data examples to assess impact
Reminders for before the session:
- All attendees, please bring a laptop
- Sign in at genai.umich.edu to make sure your U-M GPT access is working
About the Series
This tutorial series introduces practical ways researchers can use AI to support common stages of the research workflow. Designed as a hands-on learning experience, the series focuses on approachable, real-world applications rather than abstract theory. Each session will combine brief framing, live demonstrations, and guided practice so participants can explore how AI tools may help with tasks such as refining research questions, working with data, conducting early-stage analysis, checking outputs, and communicating findings responsibly. The goal is to help researchers develop useful habits for integrating AI into their work in thoughtful, transparent, and effective ways.
Parking/Accessibility
The Palmer Commons parking structure has pay-in-lane stations at two exit points that accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Visitors may use QR-coded validation tickets provided by department hosts for discounted or complimentary parking.
Palmer Drive Parking Structure, Palmer Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
For additional information regarding visitor parking at the Palmer Drive structure—located just west of Washtenaw Avenue—please visit the official University of Michigan Logistics, Transportation & Parking website at visitor and patient parking information.
For questions please message Kelly Psilidis: [email protected]