Alaknár

I think it would be infinitely better for an LLM to walk a user through the use of the formula in their specific use case rather than do it for them

The one time I used it (via the Microsoft 365 Copilot), that’s exactly what it did. It only created the table in the spreadsheet that I wanted and then explained how to do the formula, explained the bits and bobs of the formula, showed me the code and told me where to put it.

Sure, if I was lazy, I’d just copy-paste without thinking, but the information was there.

but that won’t sell as well because most people don’t want to learn to use a spreadsheet they just want to do a thing and move on to something else (…) with an asterisk and fine print stating that it’s for entertainment purposes only and that whoever isn’t liable for any false information

At the same time, you could be arguing that calculators should be teaching people how to do maths, instead of just giving them the result, right? It’s actually a bit similar to LLMs, because, well, if you don’t know how maths and calculators work, you can get a result that’s horribly wrong (try 3+2*3 on any simple calculator and you’ll get 15).

I just had my place of work upgrade me to Windows 11 this week (…) I was directed by Microsoft to download the “Office 365 Copilot” app which downloaded the office installer

So, first of all, it sucks that your IT didn’t have the tools to handle this for you in the first place.

Secondly - that’s just Microsoft being Microsoft. They love changing names and making things as confusing as possible. Although now Copilot is part of that app, when they originally introduced the new name, it was just a rebranded Microsoft 365 App. We were joking that it was done by some middle manager so he could boast that “100% of Office users now utilise Copilot”.

Last time I tried to use it I was given hallucinated nonexistant python modules and powershell commands that wasted my time

I haven’t yet seen an LLM that didn’t invent PowerShell modules, although recently Copilot’s been pretty good.

Well… Yeah, I get what you mean, and - in general - I agree.

However, to me it’s also a bit like criticising the use of hammers because a lot of idiots hit themselves on the heads with them. Or, even worse, hit others on the heads.

AI/LLMs are a tool, and just like any other tool, they can be misused. That doesn’t mean the tool is bad, or immoral, or whatever, to use.

That’s why I hate the today’s discourse of “anything that has AI is shite be default” that so many people online have.

Let’s laugh at obviously bullshit attempt of shoving AI down consumer’s throats, but when it comes to actual, proper implementation - like in the case of baking Copilot into Excel - it becomes yet another optional tool at users’ disposal.

I think you’re completely missing the point here.

I’m not great at Excel. That doesn’t mean I can’t do basic math, it means I struggle designing an xlookup or hlookup.

If AI does that for me, I’ll be a happy bunny. And then run a dozen different iterations of data to verify that the results I’m getting are correct.

This is what this integration is for - it’s not a replacement for a human brain, it’s an assistant. As are all LLMs.

I’m talking about using it when you’re “not great at Excel”, not when “you can’t do basic math”.

Always verify the results given to you by LLMs.

Any time, nutsack.

OK, I’m not really mad at this. I already used Copilot to design a table for me in Excel and it worked really well. It did everything for me, and I just had to copy-paste the formulas into their appropriate spots. If it’s built-in, possibly will work better.

Not everybody needs to be an Excel expert, after all. Having that functionality might be actually beneficial.

Answer is probably the same as before AI: build a portfolio on GitHub

You really think that using GitHub falls in the usual vibecoding toolbox? As in: would they even know where/how to look?

I don’t know if Vance has a strong enough following. Trump is effectively worshipped by MAGAts, not sure Vance is capable of taking over like that.

Hinging their entire future on the bet that their country gets an easily manipulated dictator, when said dictator is 80 years old already, would be extremely short-sighted from Google.

I could not disagree more.

Mozilla has used the most powerful cheat code in history: infinite money for free.

Google cannot let Mozilla go under or they would become an actual monopolist, triggering a lot of laws that would force them to diversifying/selling the browser.

They don’t want any of that headache so they’re pumping Mozilla full of money, making sure that they can always operate as “the other browser engine”.

The issue is that Mozilla’s management seems to be completely incapable of doing anything interesting. Instead of ensuring that Firefox is the lightest, most optimised browser on the market while also being packed full of features (or at least full-fledged add-ons, not this crap they have), they do… mostly nothing.

Their last major update was “vertical tabs”, something that Chromium-based browsers had for around a decade.

Their previous major update was integrating Pocket…

Meanwhile, PWAs still barely work, add-ons are still dependent on the website being loaded instead of working on the browser level, the whole thing still feels bulky.

Mozilla management needs to be replaced and then we might see some movement on the market.