Can you use AI to make slides?

Short answer: what you get depends on where you use ChatGPT. In an ordinary chat it plans and writes your slides. In ChatGPT Work, or through the ChatGPT for PowerPoint add-in, it can build or edit the deck itself. OpenAI4’s help pages, checked in October 2026, say this depends on your plan, workspace settings, file type and surface. Look at what your own account actually offers.

What ChatGPT can and can’t do with slides

In any chat, ChatGPT can suggest a running order, draft the words for each slide, cut a dense paragraph down to a headline and write speaker notes. It can also rework the same material for a different audience, such as a five-minute version for your manager and a twenty-minute one for a client.

It can make pictures too. OpenAI says ChatGPT Images is available on all tiers, on web, iOS and Android. It can add text to an image or make the background transparent, which helps when you need a graphic to sit on a slide. A generated image is still only a picture, so any numbers drawn into it need the same checking as numbers anywhere else.

Turning words into a real deck is where the routes split. That’s why the top search results disagree: some describe the chat, others describe the PowerPoint add-in. Both are real, and they’re different products.

Three ways to get a deck: outline, file, or another tool

1. Outline in chat, then build it yourself. Ask for slide titles, a few lines under each and speaker notes, then paste them into PowerPoint, Google Slides or Keynote. You only need an ordinary chat, and the design stays fully in your hands.

2. Let ChatGPT build the file. OpenAI’s help centre describes two routes:

• ChatGPT Work can create or edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations from your instructions and source material. It can also match a deck or master slides you attach. It supports native Google Slides when the Google Workspace app is enabled and connected. OpenAI’s steps are to describe the file and how you’ll use it, attach the source material, name the output format and where the file should go, say what must stay unchanged (such as slide order or branding), then review the result.
• ChatGPT for PowerPoint is an add-in that sits in a sidebar inside Microsoft PowerPoint. In PowerPoint, go to Home, then Add-ins, search for ChatGPT, and sign in with a ChatGPT account that has access. It can draft a deck from source material, add or revise slides, and keep the slides editable. At work, a Microsoft 365 admin may need to deploy or enable it. OpenAI also says PowerPoint isn’t part of the Work flow in the ChatGPT desktop app at launch, so in PowerPoint itself the add-in is the route.

3. Use the AI in your slide software. Microsoft’s Copilot in PowerPoint can draft a new presentation from a prompt. It asks about audience and style, then lets you refine the outline before it makes the slides. Microsoft notes it may not be included with your Microsoft 365 subscription. Gemini in Google Slides can build new slides, create images, summarise a deck and draft or rewrite text, and Google says it needs an eligible Google Workspace or Google AI plan. Pick the tool that matches where the deck has to end up.

How to do it well

Start with the audience and the outcome. Tell ChatGPT who’s in the room, how long you have and what you want people to do afterwards. Without that you get a generic deck that fits everyone and therefore nobody.

I'm presenting to [audience] for [minutes] minutes. I want them to [decision or action].
Using only the notes below, propose a slide-by-slide outline with a title and
one line per slide. Flag any claim in my notes that needs a source.

Ask for the outline first and argue with it. OpenAI’s own add-in guidance says to ask for a plan before larger edits, and to be specific about what to change and what to keep. Cutting and merging slides is cheap at outline stage and slow once forty slides exist.

Give it your material instead of asking it to remember facts. If the deck comes from a long report, summarise the PDF first so you know what it really says. If it comes from a meeting, start from checked meeting minutes.

Keep the words on screen short and put the detail in the speaker notes. Read the notes aloud and rewrite anything you trip over, because you’re the one presenting.

Then open the file and click through every slide. OpenAI warns that ChatGPT can make mistakes, including when editing or deleting presentation content, and says to review outputs before sharing or relying on them.

Rules and risks

Figures and claims. OpenAI’s Terms of Use say output may not always be accurate and shouldn’t be relied on as your only source of truth. They say you must check it, with human review where appropriate, before you use or share it. Trace every number, date and quote to a source you have opened yourself, and cut anything you can’t trace.

Who owns the slides and images. Under OpenAI’s terms, as between you and OpenAI and as far as the law allows, you own the output. The same clause warns that output may not be unique and other users may get similar results. That clause is a contract between you and OpenAI. It doesn’t decide whether copyright exists. Under UK law, section 9(3) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 says the author of a computer-generated work is the person who made the arrangements needed to create it. Section 178 defines computer-generated as made by computer in circumstances where there is no human author. The Act itself doesn’t say how that applies to any particular AI slide. The terms also say you must have the rights to anything you upload, so don’t feed in logos, photos or decks you aren’t allowed to use. For more on AI images and the law, see is AI art illegal.

Personal data. Think before you paste in customer names, staff details or anything else about real people. The ICO’s guidance on AI and data protection is written for organisations that use AI systems to process personal data. The ICO notes the guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act. If the deck is for work, check whether your employer has approved the tool before you upload anything personal.

Saying AI helped. OpenAI’s terms forbid you from presenting output as human-generated when it was not. For GCSE and A level coursework, JCQ says students must acknowledge AI use, naming the tool and the date the content was generated. Writing just “ChatGPT” isn’t enough, and students must keep a copy of their questions and the AI output. Not acknowledging AI use is malpractice, and JCQ says sanctions can include disqualification. Universities and colleges set their own policies, so read yours before you use AI on assessed work (our page on homework covers this further). At work, disclosure is up to your employer or client, and the published sources don’t settle it, so ask or check the contract.

If you came here looking for STL or other 3D files, that’s a different job: see make 3D models.