Distilled ChatGPT Topic & Sentiment Modeling with Applications in Finance

In this study, ChatGPT is utilized to create streamlined models that generate easily interpretable features. These features are then used to evaluate financial outcomes from earnings calls. We detail a training approach that merges knowledge distillation and transfer learning, resulting in lightweight topic and sentiment classification models without significant loss in accuracy. These models are assessed through a dataset annotated by experts. The paper also delves into two practical case studies, highlighting how the generated features can be effectively utilized in quantitative investing scenarios.