OpenAI is giving developers and writers more space to work on their tasks using ChatGPT. For this, OpenAI is changing the AI assistant’s interface to prevent the chat feature from using the entire workspace.
The new interface divides ChatGPT into two windows. In the largest window, the code or text a user is working on opens. In a smaller window to the side, ChatGPT remains approachable for further questions.
The new interface gives more room to make adjustments to text or code. Source: OpenAI
Users will find this new way of working under ‘canvas‘. ChatGPT will automatically switch to the new interface when it notices a scenario where canvas could be useful.
The option is immediately available in beta for ChatGPT users with a Plus or Team subscription. Next week it launches for Enterprise and Edu users. Once the feature is generally available, OpenAI will make canvas available to free users.
Working on a document with ChatGPT
According to OpenAI, users who use the chatbot in coding tasks or to write text see the interface prevents them from working smoothly. This is due to the nature of the tasks, which involve rework and revision.
With canvas, ChatGPT should become a helpful tool for such tasks. To that end, OpenAI is introducing a few more features that should make canvas even better. For example, it will be possible to edit or elaborate on specific parts of the output. Users can indicate relevant output for this purpose. In addition, OpenAI added shortcuts for a few adjustments that are often made, such as debugging code or adjusting text length.
Users can also modify the text or code themselves. For changes ChatGPT makes, users always have the choice to revert them.
Custom version of GPT-4o
Canvas assistance is provided by a modified version of LLM GPT-4o. The adjustments come from a new dataset generated with o1. This model currently achieves the best results in reasoning, coding and computation in OpenAI.
With canvas, ChatGPT should become a better tool for writing texts or code. A user can work on a document together with the AI assistant, but the user always has the final say on the end result.