Overview
Although artificial intelligence seems like it is suddenly permeating every aspect of our daily lives, AI has been part of Excel for over a decade now. In this presentation author and Excel expert David Ringstrom, CPA will walk you through various AI-powered features in Excel, including Flash Fill, Analyze Data, Power Query's Column From Example, extracting data from pictures and PDF documents, and more. Of course, no discussion of AI would be complete without an exploration of ChatGPT, so David will show you how to write and deconstruct formulas as well as automate repetitive tasks with only a minimal understanding of Excel's Visual Basic for Applications programming language.
David is the author of “Exploring Microsoft Excel's Hidden Treasures: Turbocharge your Excel proficiency with expert tips, automation techniques, and overlooked features”. He demonstrates every technique at least twice: first, on a PowerPoint slide with numbered steps, and second, in the subscription-based Excel for Microsoft 365. David draws your attention to any differences in Excel 2021, 2019 or 2016 during the presentation and in his detailed handouts. The handouts include an Excel workbook with most of the examples he uses during his demonstrations.
Excel for Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product that receives periodic feature updates. Conversely, perpetually licensed versions have year numbers in their names and do not receive any feature updates.
Areas Covered
· Deconstructing existing formulas by asking ChatGPT to explain the formula in detail.
· Understanding the nuance of editing dynamic array-based formulas in Excel 2021 and Microsoft 365.
· Retrieving geographic information directly into Excel spreadsheets with the Geography data type.
· Querying ChatCPT directly from within Excel by way of the LABS.GENERATIVEAI function in Excel for Microsoft 365.
· Separating first/last names into two columns without using formulas or retyping.
· Transforming data in Power Query by way of the Column From Example feature.
· Exploring the requirements and constraints of Microsoft Copilot in Excel.
· Creating PivotTables and PivotCharts based upon your data by asking natural language questions with the Analyze Data feature in Excel for Microsoft 365.
· Extracting data from pictures by way of the From Picture command.
· Joining text together with spaces or other characters with the TEXTJOIN function in Excel 2019 and later.
· Jump-starting PivotTables by way of the Recommended PivotTables feature.
· Navigating through workbooks and identifying non-blank worksheet cells with the Navigation task pane in Microsoft 365.
· State the functionality that the Flash Fill feature offers.
· Define the purpose of the Forecast feature in Excel 2016 and later.
· Recognize the color that dynamic array functions are displayed in within Excel's formula bar in all cells except the cell where the formulas was entered.
