AI Tools for R

Day 1 - Introduction to Data Analysis with R

Selina Baldauf

Freie Universität Berlin - Theoretical Ecology

October 13, 2025

Motivation

  • AI tools assist programmers with
    • Coding
    • Debugging
    • Learning
    • …
  • Higher productivity and efficiency
  • More motivation
  • But careful: You still need to understand what’s going on!

Overview of tools

  • Data-analysis tools (Julius AI, RTutor, …)
    • Upload data and ask questions about it
    • Can also execute code
    • Chat with your data
  • Integrated AI tools (GitHub Copilot, …)
    • Integrated directly in programming environment
    • Real-time suggestions, chat, debugging, …

Find the tools that best fit your workflow!

Julius AI

  • https://julius.ai/
  • Try for free
  • Basic plan ~20€ per months (-50% academic discount)
  • Upload data and ask questions about it

Github Copilot

  • https://github.com/features/copilot
  • Based on models specifically trained on source code
  • Basic idea: Integrate directly into your IDE
    • Real-time code suggestions (inline as you type)
    • Chat with the AI
  • Works best for well-represented languages (Python, JS, …), but R is also pretty good

Inline code suggestions

Available for RStudio and Positron

  • Copilot tries to predict what you want to do next
  • Suggestions are based on the context
    • Previous code
    • Comments
    • Variable and function names
    • …

Get better suggestions

  • Provide context
    • Open other files
    • Add top level comments explaining the purpose of the script
    • Name variables and functions properly
    • Copy-paste sample code and delete it later
  • Be consistent
    • “Garbage in, garbage out”
    • Have a nice and consistent coding style

Nice side effect of using Copilot: More good-practice coding

Chat with GH Copilot about your

Only available in Positron or VS Code

  • Open a chat window
  • The AI can access you files and projects
  • The AI can make taylored suggestions based on your project
  • Great for
    • Debugging
    • Getting explanations
    • Getting good-practice suggestions
    • …

How to get GitHub Copilot

See this website for step-by-step guide and more information.

It’s really easy, but you need:

  • GitHub Account
  • Active GH Copilot subscription (10$ per month)
    • Get it for free as an academic with an educational account
  • IDE that supports Copilot

Things to consider I

  • Privacy
    • Check privacy guidelines before you use tools (e.g. Github -> Seetings -> Copilot -> Policies)
  • Plagiarism
    • Block suggestions matching public code (Github -> Seetings -> Copilot -> Policies)

Things to consider II

  • Responsibility
    • You are responsible for your scientific output
    • Stay critical, double-check
  • Transparency
    • Make clear for which tasks you used which AI
  • Know relevant guidelines
    • Journals
    • Your university
  • Still understand what is happening!