ChatGPT 4o with Canvas: How to use it and what it is
Early October turned out to be a busy month for OpenAI. The company hosted this yearâs DevDay event, where it unveiled new tools developers can use to integrate ChatGPT into their apps, including a Realtime API that enables Advanced Voice Mode functionality in third-party apps.
OpenAI has also made Advanced Voice Mode available to ChatGPT Free users, though you only get 15 minutes of voice chatting per month.
Fast-forward to Thursday, and OpenAI released a big update to the ChatGPT experience, the Canvas mode for the GPT-4o model that will come in handy for writing and coding jobs that require lots of going back and forth with the AI to get the result you need.
Users familiar with Anthropicâs Artifacts will immediately get the gist of Canvas. The feature is meant to simplify writing and coding jobs where you want to involve the AI. Rather than chatting with ChatGPT in a single window to request edits, youâll get a new user interface, as the chatbot will open a separate window to work with you on text and code.
Starting a ChatGPT chat with the new Canvas mode. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR
To get started, select a new chat and make sure you go for the âChatGPT 4o with canvasâ mode. In there, youâll talk to ChatGPT as you normally do, and the AI will open a window when it thinks one is needed. But you can force the AI to open it by saying, âuse canvas.â
The new window is where the AI will generate text or code, taking over most of the available real estate.
You can write text or code in it and then ask ChatGPT for help. You do that in the smaller chat window, although itâs just easier to select text or code and then ask ChatGPT your question.
The Canvas takes over almost the entire ChatGPT window. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR
You can also customize the size of each window by grabbing the slider between them and moving it to the left or right.
This type of interaction should make it even easier to work with ChatGPT on the same project. You wonât have to wait for the chatbot to regenerate the entire text or code with the new edits. And you donât have to scroll. Everything happens in the canvas window.
The canvas also gets new shortcut controls in the bottom right corner. Hereâs the menu for writing:
Suggest edits: ChatGPT offers inline suggestions and feedback.
Adjust the length: Edits the document length to be shorter or longer.
Change reading level: Adjusts the reading level, from Kindergarten to Graduate School.
Add final polish: Checks for grammar, clarity, and consistency.
Add emojis: Adds relevant emojis for emphasis and color.
If you were wondering, yes, ChatGPT will suggest edits to the text it wrote itself.
ChatGPT offers text edits after generating the text itself. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR
And hereâs the menu for coding:
Review code: ChatGPT provides inline suggestions to improve your code.
Add logs: Inserts print statements to help you debug and understand your code.
Add comments: Adds comments to the code to make it easier to understand.
Fix bugs: Detects and rewrites problematic code to resolve errors.
Port to a language: Translates your code into JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, Java, C++, or PHP.
Whenever youâre done with the current canvas, thereâs an âXâ in the top left corner that you can press to return to the regular ChatGPT experience.
Scrolling in Canvas chats is enough to find the canvas. Click on it, and you can return to it.
You can always return to the Canvas mode by clicking on the window. Image source: Chris Smith, BGR
ChatGPTâs Canvas feature is still in beta testing, so there may be issues with it. Still, it should be a great addition to the ChatGPT suite of features.
Iâll point out that if you start a chat with the Canvas mode, you wonât be able to switch to a different ChatGPT model for the same chat.
Finally, ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu users will get Canvas next week. As for users on the Free tier, thereâs no telling when the new feature will be available if that ever happens.