The AI changed 30k spreadsheet rows, but my perl one-liner was faster

He used AI in a Google spreadsheet to apply a mass change to 30k rows. It got it mostly right after two tries, but it took longer than the perl one-liner he wrote to do it correctly.

This only partly worked. Read what happened before you try it.

How it works

Opens his spreadsheet
The AI applies the mass change to 30k rows
It takes two tries and gets it mostly right
His own perl one-liner does it correctly and faster

Why it’s worth knowing

The AI could change 30k rows inside the sheet itself, but a short script he wrote still beat it on speed and got every row right.

Where it’s from

Summarized from a public post on bsky.app. See the original ↗

Upgraded prompt

A ready-to-use prompt for this idea, built from research on what makes AI agents do the job right: who the AI should be, the exact steps, and a check to make sure it was done the way you wanted.

1Who the AI should be

2The prompt, with the steps

3The check when it’s done

Upgraded prompts are coming soon.

Try next

WorkFind me 48 school-district customers and draft each pitch — one replied, booked and paid WorkA contractor talks measurements into his phone and QuickBooks sends the estimate in 45 seconds WorkA review engine asked his past customers for reviews and got three five star ones on day one WorkRead every job advert, tailor my CV and apply with my approval

Every idea is a real post from someone who tried it, summarized in our words, with a link to the original. App names are swapped for plain words.