During my quest to cut down on Excel busywork, I discovered GPT Excel. I'm not the most Excel-savvy person out there, so I had a real need to find an easier way to navigate spreadsheet software. I hoped artificial intelligence could lighten the workload, which led me to GPT Excel -- after three failed attempts to integrate ChatGPT for Microsoft Excel, including clearing my cache and cookies. GPT Excel is a chatbot and AI assistant with over 500,000 users, built specifically for Excel and Google Sheets. With free and paid ($7 a month) versions available, GPT Excel's features include AI Chat, Generate and Understand Formulas, Task Automation Generator, SQL, Data Validation and Filtering and the ability to generate table templates. While this isn't a sophisticated tool, what it lacks in flashy add-ons, it makes up for in simple and succinct tools -- which for something as robust as data (and its algorithms) makes sense. Since I was intent on summarizing and understanding the data from the Excel sheet, I focused on the Formulas page of the platform where your data can be input, then generated or explained. This was my approach when attempting to summarize the data from my spreadsheet. Create an account using your email or Google account. This will activate the free version of the platform. Once you're on your account's homepage, navigate to and click on Formulas. Select Microsoft Excel from the drop-down menu, then toggle over to the Explained tab on the top of the page. This will cause the copy-and-paste box's text below to change. This will generate your result in the text box below. You can choose to reset the copy and input new data or copy and paste this data back into the Excel sheet. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and be sure to check out the Best Practices tab for 12 do's and don'ts to help ensure the best outcome during the data input process. Artificial intelligence is a new, hot topic. Its rapid growth speaks to its popularity and success but consequently, it also speaks to the reality of oversaturation. I can't dismiss the feeling that while AI-generated organizational tools were made to reduce repetitive tasks and problem-solving time, you may spend just as much time navigating between the incredibly niche aspects of each product to find the best one for you. While articles -- like the one you're reading -- are here to help answer upfront questions, word of mouth doesn't trump experience. Tools, whether literal or digital, will always be up to individual preference and opinion. My personal thoughts on GPT Excel come down to three things: Familiarity, Simplicity, Cost. Microsoft Excel launched in 1982 (under the name Multiplan) as a basic, though reliable, spreadsheet software program -- that's steadily evolved to meet its consumers' needs. So when I found myself sifting through various Excel-focused AI tools over 40 years later, I naturally gravitated toward the tool with the word "Excel" in it. My artificial intelligence preference is the one with fewer gimmicks and a simpler, streamlined approach. GPT Excel has six different tool functions laid out on its landing page, including an AI Chat button to assist with any spreadsheet question. I turned to the Formulas tab for generating and understanding data. The typography and user design were laid out simply. Learning design integrations adds to the time spent using the tool -- which again, defeats the purpose of the tool itself. GPT Excel's only difference between the free and paid plans is priority access to customer service and the AI chatbot. I read this as the ability to be in dialogue with someone/thing. Since I accessed the tool solely to summarize my data, I was comfortable with this trade-off. The GPT Excel's free version provides enough without the need to add another subscription service to your list. GPT Excel's AI functions.

Here's How to Use AI to Summarize Excel Spreadsheets

This article provides a detailed guide on using GPT Excel, an AI assistant designed specifically for Excel and Google Sheets, to streamline data management tasks. It covers the tool's features, including AI chat, formula generation, task automation, and more. The author shares their experience integrating the tool and emphasizes its simplicity and cost-effectiveness.