Every AI cell has two values
When a column has AI Autofill enabled, each cell actually stores two values behind the scenes:
Value | What it is |
Your value | Whatever you type into the cell manually |
AI value | What the AI computed based on its instructions |
Your value always takes priority. If you type something into an AI cell, that's what you see — the AI's value stays hidden in the background.
If you haven't typed anything, the cell shows the AI's value.
Example
Imagine a Collection of vendor contracts with an AI Autofill column called "Payment Terms."
You upload a contract. The AI reads it and fills the cell: "Net 30 days"
You read the contract yourself and notice a special clause, so you type: "Net 30 days (with 2% early payment discount)"
The cell now shows your value. The AI's value ("Net 30 days") is still stored but hidden.
Later, you click Reset on that cell — your manual edit is removed, and the AI's value reappears: "Net 30 days"
Reset vs. Reprocess
These two actions look similar but do different things:
Action | What it does | When to use it |
Reset | Removes your manual edit and shows the AI's existing answer. If the AI doesn't have an up-to-date answer, it computes a new one. | You want to undo your edit and go back to what the AI said. |
Reprocess | Throws away the AI's old answer entirely and asks the AI to analyze the document again from scratch. | The AI's original answer seems wrong or outdated, and you want a fresh analysis. |
Think of it this way:
- Reset = "Show me the AI's answer instead of mine"
- Reprocess = "AI, please think about this again"
What happens when upstream cells change
AI columns can reference other columns. When you edit a cell that a downstream AI column depends on, the downstream AI cells update automatically.
However, if you've manually typed a value into a downstream cell, your manual value stays — the AI won't overwrite it. Behind the scenes, the AI's hidden value is marked as outdated. When you later Reset that cell, the AI computes a fresh answer based on the latest upstream data.
What happens when you add a row
When a new row is added — whether by you or the AI assistant — the AI always computes fresh values for all AI Autofill columns. Any values provided for AI columns during row creation are ignored.
If you want to override an AI column, add the row first, then type your value into the cell after it's created.
Quick references
Scenario | What you see |
New row, AI column | AI computes and fills the cell |
You type into an AI cell | Your value — AI value is hidden |
You click Reset | AI's value reappears (recomputed if outdated) |
You click Reprocess | AI analyzes the document again from scratch |
Upstream cell changes, you haven't edited downstream | Downstream AI cell updates automatically |
Upstream cell changes, you edited downstream manually | Your value stays; AI value marked outdated until you Reset |