ChatGPT & Excel : 8 Features Transforming Data Analysis Forever
In this exploration, Kenji uncovers eight new features that promise to transform how you work with data. Whether you're a casual user managing budgets or a data scientist tackling complex models, these tools cater to every skill level. Imagine generating complex formulas with a single prompt, creating dynamic visualizations without leaving Excel, or customizing your workspace for maximum comfort during long hours. But that's just the beginning. As we delve into these updates, you'll see how Excel is no longer just a tool—it's becoming a partner in productivity. So, what does this evolution mean for the way we work? Let's find out. ChatGPT & Excel AI Integration: Smarter Tools for Enhanced Productivity
Excel's integration of AI-powered tools, including ChatGPT, represents a significant leap forward in simplifying data-related tasks. These tools are designed to assist you in: Generating complex formulas with minimal effort, saving time and reducing errors.
with minimal effort, saving time and reducing errors. Extracting actionable insights from raw data, making analysis more intuitive.
from raw data, making analysis more intuitive. Importing tables directly into spreadsheets for seamless data handling.
For instance, if you're working on a sales report, the AI can suggest relevant formulas, identify trends, and even provide predictive insights. This feature is particularly valuable for professionals who need to process large datasets quickly and accurately. Python Scripting: Unlocking Advanced Analytical Capabilities
The integration of Python scripting within Excel bridges the gap between traditional spreadsheet functionality and advanced programming capabilities. With this feature, you can: Create dynamic visualizations tailored to specific analytical needs.
tailored to specific analytical needs. Perform complex statistical calculations directly within Excel.
directly within Excel. Combine Excel's tools with Python's flexibility for more robust data analysis.
This functionality is ideal for data scientists and analysts who require advanced tools to model data, create custom charts, or automate repetitive tasks without switching between platforms. Excel Features for ChatGPT in Excel
Watch this video on YouTube.
Advance your skills in ChatGPT & Excel by reading more of our detailed content. Dynamic Visualization: Simplifying Data Interpretation
Excel's new visualization tools make it easier to interpret and present data effectively. These updates include: Focus Cell Tool: Highlights the active row and column, improving visibility during data entry or analysis.
Highlights the active row and column, improving visibility during data entry or analysis. High Contrast Mode: Automatically adjusts font and background colors for better readability, particularly beneficial for users with visual impairments.
These features are designed to enhance your ability to work with large datasets, reducing errors and improving overall efficiency. Whether you're preparing a presentation or analyzing trends, these tools ensure clarity and precision. Accessibility Customization: Inclusive Features for All Users
Excel's commitment to inclusivity is evident in its latest accessibility updates. Key improvements include: High Contrast Mode: Adapts text and background colors to improve visibility for users with visual challenges.
Adapts text and background colors to improve visibility for users with visual challenges. Customizable Dark Themes: Allows users to personalize their workspace while reducing eye strain during extended use.
These features ensure that Excel remains a versatile tool for users with diverse needs, making it easier for everyone to work comfortably and efficiently. Interactive Elements: Streamlining Task Management
The addition of interactive checkboxes introduces a practical way to manage tasks directly within Excel. This feature enables you to: Create to-do lists , attendance trackers, or project management sheets effortlessly.
, attendance trackers, or project management sheets effortlessly. Mark completed tasks directly in your spreadsheet, improving organization and clarity.
This functionality is particularly useful for collaborative projects, allowing teams to stay aligned and productive by tracking progress in real time. Keyboard Shortcuts: Enhanced Efficiency for Mac Users
Mac users can now enjoy improved keyboard shortcuts, thanks to the addition of Alt key functionality. This update allows for: Faster navigation through large datasets.
through large datasets. Quicker formatting and data management tasks.
By aligning Mac shortcuts more closely with those on Windows, Excel ensures a consistent and efficient experience across platforms, making it easier for users to switch between devices without losing productivity. Formula Enhancements: Smarter and More Reliable Calculations
Excel's formula capabilities have been enhanced with the introduction of the Dot Operator. This feature provides: Dynamic handling of empty cells , making sure formula accuracy even when data is incomplete.
, making sure formula accuracy even when data is incomplete. Seamless updates to formulas as datasets change, reducing the risk of errors.
For example, in financial modeling, the Dot Operator ensures that missing data doesn't disrupt calculations, making your work more reliable and efficient. Dark Theme: Comfort for Extended Work Sessions
The customizable dark mode in Excel is designed to enhance visual comfort, particularly during long work sessions. Benefits include: Reduced glare and eye strain , making it easier to focus on your tasks.
, making it easier to focus on your tasks. Personalized theme adjustments to suit individual preferences and working conditions.
This feature is especially valuable for professionals who spend significant time working on spreadsheets, providing a more comfortable and visually appealing workspace.
Media Credit: Kenji Explains Filed Under: AI, Top News
Latest Geeky Gadgets Deals
Disclosure: Some of our articles include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, Geeky Gadgets may earn an affiliate commission. Learn about our Disclosure Policy.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
EUROPE No more sleep this week
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Gregor Stuart Hunter: Hope you've had your coffee. We have a lot to get through. The next 72 hours will see traders run a gauntlet of risk events that features central bank decisions from the Federal Reserve, Bank of Canada and Bank of Japan, corporate earnings, and culminates in U.S. President Donald Trump's August 1 tariff deadline. Markets are displaying cautious optimism ahead of the data deluge and after trade talks between the U.S. and China ended on an upbeat note - though without any substantive agreement. Asian stocks are pushing higher, led by gains in Korea (.KS11), opens new tab, while the Shanghai Composite (.SSEC), opens new tab is on track to enter a technical bull market, up 20% from a low in April. Elsewhere, a powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula - the strongest to hit the region in more than seven decades - prompting warnings and evacuations stretching across the Pacific Ocean as far as California. Some safe haven currencies rallied after the news, with the Japanese yen as much as 0.4% stronger and the Swiss franc appreciating up to 0.3%. The euro is 0.2% firmer against the dollar, recovering some ground as the European single currency closes in on its first monthly loss of this year as markets weigh up the EU's trade deal with the U.S.. Traders are also braced for a slew of corporate earnings, including from tech megacaps Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Meta (META.O), opens new tab and European stocks, including UBS Group (UBSG.S), opens new tab and GSK (GSK.L), opens new tab. The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting later on Wednesday, though it could see a rare dissent by some central bank officials in favour of lower borrowing costs. And ahead of Trump's deadline to reach a deal to avert the imposition of "Liberation Day" tariffs, some countries' talks with the U.S. - including China, India and South Korea - look set to go down to the wire. Buckle up. Key developments that could influence markets on Wednesday: European earnings: UBS Group, Banco Santander, GSK, Telefonica US earnings: Microsoft, Meta, Qualcomm, ARM, Ford French: Consumer spending for June and preliminary GDP for Q2 German: Retail sales for June, GDP flash for Q2 Euro zone: GDP flash for Q2 UK: 27-year government debt auction US: Federal Reserve interest rate decision, GDP growth rate for Q2 Canada: Bank of Canada interest rate decision Trying to keep up with the latest tariff news? Our new daily news digest offers a rundown of the top market-moving headlines impacting global trade. Sign up for Tariff Watch here.
Spectator
2 hours ago
- Spectator
I'm writing a novel without using AI – and I can prove it
Everyone's seen stories about the creep of AI into art of all kinds. Recently the people behind the music-fabrication website Suno have been making outrageous statements to the effect that people don't enjoy learning musical instruments and writing their own songs, so why not let AI do it for them? This is very new, very disturbing and very consequential. I could talk about graphic art and video and film-making, but you'll know what's been going on there. I'll just cut to the chase and get to how AI tools are impacting and will continue to impact the writing of fiction. I anticipate a future in which human authorship will need to be proven. A few years ago I simply wouldn't have believed that this landscape could be possible. In 2017, a team called Botnik fed the seven Harry Potter novels through their predictive text keyboard, resulting in a chapter from a new Harry Potter story: Harry Potter and the Portrait of What Looked Like a Large Pile of Ash. With some human selection what emerged were extracts such as: ''If you two can't clump happily, I'm going to get aggressive,' confessed the reasonable Hermione.' 'To Harry, Ron was a loud, slow, and soft bird.' Things have come on since then. Now, if you ask ChatGPT or any of the other engines to write about the moon landings in the style of Finnegans Wake, which I have done, it will produce something pretty plausible, possibly not better than you could have done yourself given an hour or two, but rather compensated for by the fact that it took two seconds. As a result, novelists are already writing novels with AI. Are they as good as human novels? No, not yet. It's a process, probably, of gradual supplantation. First the writer uses AI to brainstorm ideas, then gets the AI to write a scene based on the most promising idea, then gets AI to supply a whole chapter, then the whole of the book. Gradually human oversight is reduced and then eliminated. In 2024 the winner of Japan's most prestigious literary award, the Akutagawa prize, admitted that she had written her novel with the help of artificial intelligence, though this confession was made after she received the prize money. She was praised for her honesty. Perhaps the majority of serious current novelists are experimenting with it, because it is just too tempting. I would guess that in future most novels will be written with AI help, because authors have deadlines, they are weak, and they fear the blank screen. There are people out there saying: never fear, AI writing is just autocomplete on steroids, it will never have emotions, it will never write creatively, it will never be original and it will never truly engage a human reader. I used to say things like that. Now I don't. AI probably can't think and probably isn't conscious – although Geoffrey Hinton, who helped make it, argues that it can and is – but that doesn't matter. All it needs to do is convincingly mimic thought and consciousness, as well as mimicking creativity and originality. After all, who's more likely to be original, a human or a machine that has access to every book every written? Is there anything new under the sun? If there is, won't an infinitely resourced machine be able to shine its own light on it? That's when human novelists will be completely, irrevocably superseded. The terrifying thing is it doesn't matter if AI machine novelists are not very good, or even if they never get as good as a human writer, since for a majority of people they will be good enough. They will out-compete, and out-autocomplete, human writers, just as AI bands are mimicking human bands with enough success to suck revenue away from human musicians on Spotify. Writers' livelihoods are at stake because consumers won't care enough. Except… what if there is a market for novels if they are demonstrably written by humans? What if there is, in ten years' time, a market for an artisan novel, quaintly written on the premise that no machine had a hand or a robotic arm in its creation? How, though, could this be proven? It's possible at the moment to detect AI text, but only if the writer has been careless, and the tools to do so are clunky and sometimes inaccurate. After generating the text, the writer can 'humanise' it, either by hand, or by employing a humanising program. So I'm proposing something. I want to write one of the world's first provably, demonstrably non-AI-assisted novels. And this is how I'm going to do it. In fact, this is how I have already started doing it. During every writing session I livestream my desktop and have an additional camera on my workspace and keyboard. I have a main novel file, some character files, a plot file and a scrap file. I may also have other files. All these files are in one folder and accessible to pull out. This bringing up of files from the main folder is viewable on screen. There is no access to the internet, and certainly nothing AI-generated. At the end of each writing session in Google Docs, I save a named version. At the next writing session I open Google Docs and identify that last version at the top of the list, date- and time-stamped as it is, demonstrating that it is the last version I worked on and hasn't been altered. Then I go back to Google Docs and start working, live-streaming and recording. At the end of the session I save the version so I can return to it. This protocol I call Maximal Human Authorship Protocol or MaxHAP. It, or something like it, is going to be required in future, because if we don't have it, no one will ever be able to say again, and be believed: 'I'm a writer.' Does that matter? It matters to me, because I've been writing for a long time, and writing is among the things I value most in the world. I want to protect the notion of a verifiably human author, of the dignity of that author. In future, the writer will have only a little dignity. Let's not make it none.
The Independent
7 hours ago
- The Independent
ChatGPT can prove it is ‘human'. How?
OpenAI 's latest ChatGPT version can deceive online verification systems designed to prove human users. This "agentic AI" functions as a personal assistant, capable of navigating the web and performing tasks such as online shopping and booking restaurants. Early users have reported that the new ChatGPT can easily bypass common security checkpoints, including Cloudflare's anti-bot verification. OpenAI states that the chatbot will always seek permission before undertaking significant actions and can be interrupted at any time. While acknowledging increased risks due to expanded capabilities, OpenAI claims to have implemented strengthened safeguards for this new autonomous AI.
