Please note: features like these are updated constantly, and ChatGPT changed its approach in May 2026. Check when this article was published, and if you need training that matches what's on your screen today, contact Softwired.
The short answer
An artefact is something the AI makes for you that you'll keep: a document, slide deck, chart, diagram, web page or small interactive tool. Instead of leaving it buried in the chat, the tool shows it in its own panel or page where you can edit it, ask for changes, then share or export it. Claude calls these Artifacts, Gemini uses Canvas and Microsoft uses Copilot Pages. ChatGPT now uses writing blocks in the chat and Pages in its Space feature.
What each tool calls it
This guide covers Claude from Anthropic, Gemini from Google, ChatGPT from OpenAI, Microsoft 365 Copilot from Microsoft, Grok from xAI and Meta AI from Meta. We checked these details on 31 October 2026. "Not confirmed" means we could not find the name on an official page.
| Tool | Name | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Claude | Artifacts | Documents, slide decks, designs, dashboards, visualisations and small interactive tools that open beside the chat. Claude Design, Claude Slides and Claude Docs are in beta. You can share an artifact by link or export it. |
| Gemini | Canvas | An editing space with a Create menu for web pages, infographics, quizzes, Audio Overviews (spoken summaries) and apps. You can export a Deep Research report into Canvas and keep editing it there. |
| ChatGPT | Writing blocks, Pages in Space | OpenAI phased canvas out of its current models in May 2026, and paid users can still reach it for a limited time through older models. Writing now happens in writing blocks and code blocks in the chat. For documents you want to keep or share, Pages live in Space, where you can give others View, Comment or Edit access. |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Copilot Pages | An editable page for Copilot-generated content. Recent updates added more ways to create and steer pages, including from the mobile app. |
| Grok | Canvas for writing | Long-form editing with inline suggestions. |
| Meta AI | Not confirmed | Meta says everything Meta AI creates (plans, slide decks, mood boards) "now lives in one place". We could not confirm the feature's name. |
Files versus artefacts
Many tools can also hand back ordinary files: Word documents, Excel spreadsheets with working formulas, PowerPoint decks and PDFs. Claude does this in chat, ChatGPT does it in Work (its agent mode) and Gemini does it in Task (its agent mode). Use a file when the work needs to leave the AI tool. Use an artefact or page when you'll keep refining it with the AI or with colleagues. More on agent modes in What is an AI agent?
How you'd actually use it
A one-page brief
"Turn these notes into a one-page brief with sections for goal, audience, timeline and risks." Edit the headings yourself in the panel, then ask, "Make the risks section a table with likelihood and impact."
A quick internal tool
In Claude: "Build a simple calculator where staff enter hours and job type and it shows the quote using these rates." Before you share it with the team, test it against 3 quotes you've already worked out by hand.
A training quiz
In Gemini Canvas: "Create a 10-question quiz from this policy document." Check each answer against the policy, then send the quiz to new starters.
A shared plan
In Microsoft 365 Copilot, move a useful response into a Copilot Page so you can keep refining it. Your organisation's settings decide whether you can share the page with your team.
Watch-outs
- An artefact can look finished before anyone has checked it, so read every figure and claim before you share it.
- Shared links may be public on personal plans. Claude says Free, Pro and Max users can publish a public link, while Team and Enterprise users share within the organisation. Check the sharing setting each time.
- Treat interactive tools built by AI as prototypes. Test them properly before you use them for anything financial or safety-critical.
Frequently asked questions
Is "artefact" or "artifact" correct?
Both, in different places. "Artefact" is the Australian and British spelling, and "Artifacts" is Claude's product name.
What replaced canvas in ChatGPT?
Writing blocks and code blocks inside the chat, plus Pages in Space for documents you want to keep or share.
Can the AI make a PowerPoint I can open?
Yes. Claude, ChatGPT (in Work) and Gemini (in Task) can produce files such as .pptx and .docx.
Related guides
- What is an AI agent? Cowork, Work and Task explained
- Why AI gets things wrong and how to check its work
- AI tool features explained: a plain-English guide for 2026
Put it to work with AI On Ramp
Artefacts save the most time when your team knows which tool to open for which document.
AI On Ramp gets your team using AI with confidence, on their own work and across teams, while you keep its cost and risk under control. We set up the tools, then our consultants sit beside your most advanced AI users and build real in-house workflows with them. Your nominated AI Lead gets the governance tools and our ongoing support to keep the business current as the tools change. We bring deep technical expertise and decades of business change management, and we work face to face from Brisbane and along Australia's east coast. See how AI On Ramp works.
Want to talk through how this applies to your team? Book a call with Softwired.
