The AI Readiness App course · Beginner · about 75 minutes · Free

AI for data and numbers

Use AI to clean data, write formulas, find patterns and explain results, and verify every number before it reaches a decision.

For: Anyone who works with spreadsheets, reports, budgets, dashboards or figures as part of their job.

1. Lesson 1

   Get help with formulas and cleaning

   Spend less time fighting spreadsheets.

   1. Describe your columns and what you want to calculate to an AI assistant your workplace allows (for example ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot), or use the AI built into Excel or Google Sheets.
   2. Ask for the formula and a plain explanation of how it works.
   3. Test it on five rows where you already know the answer.
   4. Ask for steps to clean messy data: duplicates, mixed date formats, stray spaces.

   Try this at work: Pick a spreadsheet task that takes you time each week. Ask the assistant for a formula or a cleaning step, test it on rows you can check by hand, then apply it.

   How to check it: The formula gives the right answer on every test row, including blanks and unusual values.

   Watch out: Never upload files with personal or confidential data to a tool your workplace has not approved. Use a copy with sensitive columns removed.

2. Lesson 2

   Find patterns and explain them

   Turn a table into a short, accurate explanation.

   1. Share the data (or a safe sample) and say what decision it informs.
   2. Ask for the three most important patterns and how each was calculated.
   3. Recalculate the key figures yourself, or ask the tool to show the calculation.
   4. Ask what else could explain each pattern.

   Try this at work: Take a report you produce regularly. Ask the assistant for the three most important changes since last period, with the calculation for each. Recalculate one yourself.

   How to check it: Every figure in the explanation matches your own calculation.

   Watch out: AI can misread columns, totals or units. A plausible number is not a checked number.

3. Lesson 3

   Make charts and summaries for others

   Present numbers so people understand them correctly.

   1. Ask which chart type fits the message: comparison, trend or share.
   2. Ask for a one-paragraph summary written for your audience.
   3. Check that axes start at sensible values and labels are clear.

   Try this at work: Ask the assistant to suggest the best chart for one finding and to draft a three-sentence summary for your manager. Build the chart in your own tool.

   How to check it: Someone who did not see the data reads the chart and summary and reaches the right conclusion.

   Watch out: Do not let a summary claim a cause when the data only shows a link.

4. Lesson 4

   Check AI figures before they leave your desk

   Build a habit that stops wrong numbers from spreading.

   1. Pick two figures from any AI output and verify them against the source.
   2. Check totals add up and percentages use the right base.
   3. Write down where each number came from.

   Try this at work: Before you send your next AI-assisted report, verify two figures against the source data and note the source beside each.

   How to check it: Both figures match the source exactly, and the source is noted.

   Watch out: If a figure cannot be traced to a source, remove it.

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