They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Google seems to agree.
On Tuesday, the company added a feature to its AI-powered Gemini chatbot that the company is calling Canvas. Similar in concept to OpenAI’s identically-named Canvas tool for ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Artifacts, Canvas provides Gemini users with an interactive space where they can create, refine, and share writing and coding projects.
“Canvas is designed for seamless collaboration with Gemini,” Gemini product director Dave Citron wrote in a blog post shared with TechCrunch. “With these new features, Gemini is becoming an even more effective collaborator, helping you bring your ideas to life.”
Workspaces such as Gemini Canvas, ChatGPT Canvas, and Artifacts are the AI companies’ latest attempt to transform their chatbot platforms into full-blown productivity suites. Dedicated workspaces can offer more precision than text-based interfaces alone, as well as provide a way to preview code in real-time.
Gemini Canvas, which can be launched via the prompt bar from the Gemini app on the web and mobile, lets users draft lengthy messages with Gemini that they can then edit and fine-tune. Using Canvas, users can update specific sections of a draft and adjust the tone, length, and formatting via dedicated tools.
“For example, highlight a paragraph and ask Gemini to make it more concise, professional, or informal,” Citron explained in the blog post. “If you want to collaborate with others on the content you just made, you can export it to Google Docs with a click.”
As alluded to earlier, Canvas also packs programming-focused capabilities, including a feature that lets users generate and preview HTML, React code, and other web app prototypes. Users can ask Gemini to make changes to a preview, and Canvas will iteratively refresh it.
“For example, say you want to create an email subscription form for your website,” Citron wrote. “You can ask Gemini to generate the HTML for the form and then preview how it will appear and function within your web app.”
Along with Canvas, Google is bringing the Audio Overview feature of NotebookLM to Gemini, the company announced Tuesday. Google’s NotebookLM went viral last year for Audio Overview, which creates realistic-sounding podcast-style audio summaries of documents, webpages, and other sources.
As with Audio Overview in NotebookLM, Audio Overview in Gemini accepts files and content in a range of formats. Uploading a document via the prompt bar will trigger the Audio Overview shortcut, and once a summary is generated, it can be downloaded or shared via the Gemini app on the web or mobile.
Both Canvas and Audio Overview are available for free to Gemini users worldwide as of Tuesday. Canvas’ code preview feature is only on the web for now, however, and Audio Overview summaries are limited to English.
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