Hi everyone! I’m working with Airtable’s AI agent features and have a quick question about how they work.
I set up a table with two columns. The first one called “Document” contains PDF files that I upload. The second column “extracted-date” uses an AI agent to read through the document and pull out date information automatically.
My question is about when this AI processing happens. Does the agent run every single time I open the table and potentially change the extracted values? Or does it process once when I first add the PDF and then keep that result permanently?
I’m hoping it’s the second option where the AI generated content stays the same after the initial processing. It would be problematic if the values kept changing each time I load the table.
Has anyone else worked with these AI column agents? What has your experience been like with value stability?
Yes, AI column values stay stable after they’re first processed. When you upload a PDF to your Document column, the AI runs once and extracts the date into your extracted-date column. That value sticks - it won’t change when you reopen the table or navigate around. The AI only runs again if you replace the PDF with a new file or manually refresh the AI column. This is actually crucial for data integrity since you don’t want your extracted info changing randomly every time you open your base. The system treats AI-generated content like manually entered data once it’s been computed.
Good news - once Airtable’s AI extracts the date from your PDF, it’s locked in. I’ve used similar setups for document processing at work and it’s consistent every time.
The AI only runs when you upload the file or change the source data. After that, it treats the extracted value like regular data. No random re-processing.
One gotcha I learned - if you modify the original PDF (even slightly), the AI detects the change and re-extracts. Keep that in mind if you’re updating documents.
This video covers the AI functionality well if you want to dig deeper:
The stability is actually one of the better parts of their AI columns. Makes it solid for production workflows where you need consistent data.
Same experience here - AI extraction runs once and locks in place. I’ve processed tons of invoices and values never randomly flip. Only way to trigger it again is swapping out the PDF file.
From what I’ve seen with Airtable’s AI columns, they process once when you create the record or change the source data. The AI doesn’t rerun every time you open the table - that’d be inefficient and cause exactly the stability problems you’re worried about. I use AI columns for document analysis like yours, and the extracted values stay consistent unless I manually refresh or change the document. Airtable caches the AI results to keep data stable and avoid unnecessary API calls. If values change unexpectedly, it’s usually because the source document got updated or there’s a formula dependency making the AI reprocess. You can control when it runs by watching what triggers it - basically just the initial upload and any changes to the input field.
yep, the ai columns keep the data after the first extraction, so no worries about it changing when you revisit the table. it takes the info once, and unless you update the file, it stays the same. super reliable!
