(In-Person Delivery) Getting the Most from Your Spreadsheets with GenAI
This class is designed for people new to using AI tools, such as ChatGPT - Gemini - or Copilot, in the workplace. People with experience using these tools for their job functions may find some of the content covered to be beginner or overview level. PLEASE NOTE - students in this class will create ChatGPT, Gemini, and/or Copilot accounts - and should have access to an email account and cell phone in order to move through the various vendors' multi-factor authentication processes during account set-up.
Description
Overview:
Artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly become a phenomenon; a much-talked-about technological sea change. It's also a major disruptive force in the world of business. Generative AI tools can provide value in many ways, one of which is by assisting people who work with data stored in spreadsheets. No matter what spreadsheet software you use, what the data is about, or how it's structured, you can use freely available generative AI tools to enhance your productivity and help you help you find solutions to problems that can guide crucial business decisions. And, you can do all of this without having to pay for expensive AI integrations into your spreadsheet software. You just need to know what generative AI can do for you, what free tools to leverage, and the right questions to ask to get the most from your spreadsheets.
PLEASE NOTE - students in this class will create ChatGPT, Gemini, and/or Copilot accounts - and should have access to an email account and cell phone in order to move through the various vendors' multi-factor authentication processes during account set-up.
Course Objectives:
In this course, you will use generative AI to assist you as you work with spreadsheets. You will:
- Select and use generative AI tools to generate spreadsheet content.
- Use generative AI to enhance your productivity while working in spreadsheets.
- Use generative AI to solve spreadsheet-related problems.
Target Student:
This course is designed for professionals in a variety of roles who currently use spreadsheets to accomplish business tasks, and who want to enhance their use of spreadsheets by leveraging freely available generative AI tools.
Course Content
Lesson 1: Using AI to Generate Spreadsheet Content
Topic A: Generate Spreadsheet Content
- Generative Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- The Power of Generative AI
- Key Generative AI Organizations
- Generative AI Modalities
- Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Prompts
- Prompting Approaches
- Chatbots
- Business Use Cases
- Myths and Misconceptions About Generative AI
- Generating Spreadsheet Content
Topic B: Using the Right GenAI Tool for the Job
- Generative AI Tools
- Standalone Tools
- Integrated Tools
- Free vs. Paid Tools
- Context Window
- Terms of Use and Content Policies
- Data Privacy and Security
- Ethical Concerns
- Confabulation/Hallucination
- Tactics for Mitigating Confabulation
- Guidelines for Using the Right GenAI Tool for the Job
- Using the Right GenAI Tool for the Job
Lesson 2: Enhancing Your Spreadsheet Productivity with GenAI
Topic A: Ask GenAI for Basic Help
- Prompt Engineering
- General Help with Spreadsheets
- Application-Specific Help
- Asking GenAI for Application-Specific Help
- Function and Formula Syntax
- Function and Formula Examples
- Asking GenAI for Help with Functions and Formulas
- Guidelines for Asking GenAI for Basic Help
Topic B: Ask GenAI for Help Performing Specific Tasks
- Function Selection
- Data Conversion
- Asking GenAI for Help Converting Data
- Data Deduplication
- Asking GenAI for Help Removing Duplicate Data
- Data Splitting and Merging
- Asking GenAI for Help Splitting and Merging Data
- Data Trimming
- Asking GenAI for Help Trimming Data
- Date and Time Manipulation
- Asking GenAI for Help Manipulating Dates and Times
- Data Lookups
- Asking GenAI for Help Looking Up Data
- Conditional Logic
- Asking GenAI for Help Applying Conditional Logic
- PivotTable Configuration
- Asking GenAI for Help Configuring PivotTables
- Error Handling
- Asking GenAI for Help Handling Errors
- Guidelines for Asking GenAI for Help Performing Specific Tasks
Lesson 3: Solving Problems Using GenAI
Topic A: Identify Problem-Solving Limitations of GenAI
- Limitations of GenAI That Affect Spreadsheets
- Generalized Knowledge Limits Domain-Specific Requests
- GenAI Is Not a Calculator
- GenAI Is Not a Data Analyst
- GenAI Is Not a Data-Entry Professional
- Generated Images Are Conceptual, Not Informational
- Guidelines for Identifying Limitations of GenAI
- Identifying Calculation and Analysis Limitations of GenAI
- Identifying Image-Generation Limitations of GenAI
Topic B: Solve Problems Strategically Using GenAI
- Problem Formulation
- Data Structuring
- Using GenAI to Help Structure Data
- Data Cleaning and Preparation
- Using GenAI to Help Clean Data
- Data Formatting
- Using GenAI to Help Format Data
- Chart Selection
- Chart Formatting
- Using GenAI to Help Select and Format Charts
- Data Summarization and Sentiment Analysis
- Using GenAI to Summarize Data
- Guidelines for Solving Problems Strategically Using GenAI