Canvas
Also called artifacts
A side panel where you and the AI edit one document or piece of code together, instead of getting a fresh copy in every reply.
In an ordinary chat, every change means a new full copy of the text further down the page. After a few rounds you're scrolling between versions, trying to remember which one had the good opening.
A canvas fixes that. The document sits in its own panel and stays one document. You can type in it yourself, select a sentence and ask for just that to change, or ask for the whole thing to be shorter, and the AI edits in place. Most canvases keep a history, so you can step back if an edit goes wrong.
It suits anything you'll revise more than once: a letter, a report, a bit of code, a small web page you can try out right there.
For example
You highlight one paragraph of your cover letter and ask for it to be warmer, and only that paragraph changes.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet canvas in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
Daily Bytes Plus is in the Android app.