ChatGPT Models Summorized: Canvas, Projects, and IDE Integration

OpenAI recently released a series of videos showcasing different use cases for ChatGPT. I wanted to summarize them here, because otherwise I'd have to dig through each video again to find those useful examples—and that would be annoying.

Models at a Glance

• GPT-4o
  "Great for most questions"
  Features: Attach files, Search, Deep Search, Create image, Canvas

• GPT-4o with Tasks
  "Ask ChatGPT to follow up later"
  Features: Search, Deep Search, Create image

• GPT-4.5
  "Good for writing and exploring ideas"
  Features: Attach files, Search, Deep Search, Create image, Canvas

• o1
  "Uses advanced reasoning"
  Features: Attach files, Deep Search, Canvas

• o3-mini
  "Fast at advanced reasoning"
  Features: Attach files, Search, Deep Search

• o3-mini-high
  "Great at coding and logic"
  Features: Attach files, Search, Deep Search

GPT-4o with Canvas

You can upload a text document and ask ChatGPT to summarize its contents. From there, you can edit the text directly in the Canvas. You can also select specific sections and ask ChatGPT to revise or improve just those parts.

o1 with Canvas

With the o1 model, you can ask ChatGPT to prototype an application. The generated HTML, JS, and CSS can be previewed directly in the Canvas—making it quick to test and iterate.

GPT-4o with Vision and Voice on Mobile

Using the mobile app, you can activate your camera and microphone to interact with ChatGPT. It can answer questions about what it sees through your camera or help you analyze content on your shared phone screen.

Projects

The "Projects" feature, accessible from the side panel, helps ChatGPT maintain context across sessions. You can upload files and give instructions about how ChatGPT should behave in a discussion.

Each project can include multiple chats, and you can switch models between them. For instance, use o1 for building complex solutions with multiple constraints, and switch to GPT-4o when you need web search capabilities.

Ship code to your IDE

ChatGPT can interact with your IDE—but only through the installed desktop app. For coding tasks, o3-mini-high is a strong choice due to its speed and reasoning capabilities.