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Exporting AI Results to CSV: Keep Client Input from Becoming Formulas

After AI organizes external text into tables, you may still encounter formula interpretation risks when opening CSV. Based on the relevant instructions of OWASP, this article discusses text fields, export formats and checks after resave, and gives ideas for security verification. The content generated by the model is also data that needs to be verified, and the expressions in it cannot be directly trusted or executed just because it has been processed by AI.

Chinese edition published 23 Oct 2026 · 阅读中文原文 ↗

Source timingPublic information and official documents; verified on October 23, 2026.

OWASP states that untrusted content in CSV may be interpreted as formulas by spreadsheet programs. This article only discusses protection and verification, and does not provide data outgoing or attack payloads.

Keep the original type of the field when exporting

To simulate the organization of customer opinions, the text of the opinion should be saved as text and should not become an executable expression just because it starts with a special character. Fields that require calculations have formulas explicitly generated by the application and are handled separately from normal user-supplied text.

Different spreadsheet software should be checked in practice

Quoting, escaping, and formatting may change between programs and after resave. The test file should be opened, saved and re-opened in the agreed software to confirm that the text is still processed as text. Don’t think of adding a layer of quotation marks as a panacea.

Check the entire export chain before publishing

Input sanitization, AI generation, field splicing, and export may all change content, and validation should cover the final file. Use harmless samples to test special characters, line breaks, and delimiters to avoid leaking real customer materials. This article does not claim that a simple set of rules will cover all spreadsheet environments.

Extended reading: AI Entrepreneurship.

Sources and editorial notes

AI assists in organizing and writing, and editors check public sources. The main text is an independent analysis by ChinaOPC, with source facts and simulation plans separated; no interviews, financial audits or actual product testing have been conducted. Official documents are based on the original text of the source and have not been adapted or replaced. English translation of the Chinese edition, prepared with machine assistance and editorial checks. Source verification dates refer to the original Chinese research.

Source titles and publisher names are retained in their original language. Refer to the linked originals for official documents and current requirements.

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