How to use AI to help with coding or spreadsheet formulas?

You do not need to know programming syntax. Tell the AI what you want in everyday language: "Write an Excel formula that calculates the average of column B, but only for rows where column A says 'Completed'" or "Write a Python script that renames all files in a folder to lowercase."

When your code or formula throws an error, copy the entire error message and paste it into the AI along with the relevant code. The AI will identify the issue, explain why it happened, and provide the corrected version.

GitHub Copilot integrates directly into VS Code, JetBrains, and other editors. It suggests code completions as you type, generates entire functions from comments, and can explain or refactor existing code. It understands context from your entire project.

For spreadsheet power users, ask the AI to create macros, Apps Script functions, or VBA code. For example: "Write a Google Apps Script that sends an email when a cell in column D changes to 'Overdue'" or "Create a VBA macro that formats all headers as bold blue text."

If you want to learn coding rather than just get code written for you, ask the AI to teach you by building a project together. Start with: "Teach me Python by building a simple to-do list app. Explain each line of code as we go. Start from the very beginning."