Automating R Workflows with AI

In this episode of R for the Rest of Us, we talk with Simon Couch, a software engineer at Posit, about his AI-powered tools for R. Simon discusses how PAL (renamed to chores) and Gander can make tedious coding tasks faster and more efficient, without removing human oversight.
What We Cover:
- The role of AI in R package development
- How Gander turns AI-generated code into useful, contextualized suggestions
- Why AI is not replacing coding but making it more efficient
- Simon’s vision for AI-enhanced open-source development

About Simon Couch: Simon Couch is a software engineer at Posit, where he develops open-source statistical software and AI-powered tools for R. With a background in statistics and sociology, Simon focuses on creating principled tooling that enhances how users interact with data. He is the creator of PAL (renamed to chores) and Gander, two AI-driven R packages designed to streamline coding workflows by automating repetitive tasks and improving AI-generated code suggestions. Simon shares his insights on R development, AI, and open-source tooling through his personal blog and contributions to the Tidyverse blog.

Mentioned Resources:
✦ Simon’s blog: https://www.simonpcouch.com/
✦ Tidyverse blog post on PAL & Gander: https://www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/01/experiments-llm/

Connect with Simon on:
LinkedIn: Simon P. Couch (https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonpcouch/)
Bluesky: @simonpcouch.com
Mastodon: @simonpcouch@fosstodon.org‬
X: @simonpcouch

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⏳ Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
01:07 - Simon’s role at Posit & open-source contributions
02:45 - How AI assists with tedious coding tasks
05:32 - What PAL & Gander do differently from other AI tools
12:45 - The challenge of AI-generated errors & debugging
17:30 - Future directions for AI in R development
29:55 - Outro