Are Canva's new AI tools good? 🧐

Hi Non-Techies,

I’m back from a week of being disconnected from virtually every digital companion in my life (which, when you’re really into AI, is quite a lot of uninstallments).

And you know what? It was great. I love AI more than most people, but switching off from it (and everything else digital) every now and again is good for the soul.

Anyway, despite my strongly worded letter, AI didn’t stop just because I did. Selfish, really. Plenty has happened in my absence - let’s have a snoop.

Date for your diary 🗓️

Our final Become an AI Trainer 3-day Online Bootcamp of 2025 is happening on:

4:00 PM - 5:30 PM (GMT) on Wednesday, 26 November.
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM (GMT) on Thursday, 27 November.
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM (GMT) on Friday, 28 November.

In 3 live, action-packed sessions, we’ll cover:

🤖 The Booming AI Training Market.
🤖 Building Powerful Training Programs.
🤖 Advanced Techniques and Tools.

After 750+ attendees to date, we know Bootcamp gives you the tools to start your AI training business.

»Head here for more info and to save your space for £72/ $97«

Deep dive: Canva’s big AI update 🎨

Log in to Canva and you’ll see a big banner at the top that says “Watch the Canva Keynote”.

I’ve watched it so you don’t have to. Here are the big takeaways:

• AI assistance is everywhere in Canva, and you’re going to start seeing it everywhere. From editable AI-generated elements (like images, graphics, videos and 3D renders) to prompt-based design help.

• Video 2.0 is here. It has loads of fancy AI-powered editing and creating capabilities.

• They’ve released some other big features - most notably Email Design and Forms.

Putting it to the test

I’ve been playing with Canva’s new AI functionality since my return from the digital abyss. It hasn’t blown me away, but I can see the potential.

Here’s an example of it in action:

Having clicked the “Ask Canva” option on the design for this newsletter’s header image, this window pops up:

I can ask it anything, but there are some pre-written suggestions too. I selected the “Suggest improvements” option and received advice like this:

• Tighten line break. Keep “Canva’s new AI tools” on one line or split as “Canva’s new” / “AI tools” with balanced lengths to avoid an awkward pause.

• Increase contrast. Use a brighter text color like white or light cyan against the darker background, and add a subtle Shadow or Lift for legibility over the image.

• Unify imagery. Pick one background: the binary blue or the purple/gray gradient. Mixing both dilutes focus. Match text color to that palette for a cohesive look.

Okay - it hasn’t hit the mark here. Incidentally, “Ask Canva” won’t actually apply these tips for you. It’s just there for advice. You have to action the changes yourself.

Next, I asked it to rewrite the text. This is what it came up with:

Again, I don’t love these. They’re very generic and don’t actually mention Canva at all.

I’ve also been playing with AI-generated elements, which have proven useful when I can’t find a particular image or graphic. But like any image-generation tool, it needs re-prompting occasionally.

My verdict

I’m a big fan of Canva, and I’m pleased to see that it’s taking a proactive approach to incorporating AI into the platform.

But as a Non-Techie, I want Canva to be as simple as possible, and for me, that means being able to use natural language to create anything I want. It’ll get there eventually, but it’s still got a way to go.

Claude to be added to Excel 😍

Anthropic (Claude’s parents) will add Claude directly into Excel, which will answer a question I ask myself way too often: “Why is there an AI tool for everything, but I still can’t figure out how to read this spreadsheet?”.

It’s in Beta at the moment (you can join the waiting list here), but it’s important enough that I had to give you a heads up in advance. Here’s what Anthropic claim it’ll be able to do:

• Seeing #VALUE! is triggering. Claude will be able to diagnose and fix errors.

• Test hypothetical scenarios without breaking everything. “Claude, what if we doubled the conversion rate in cell D5?”

• Ask Claude for editable templates or to build something from scratch.

• And ask Claude basically anything at all about your spreadsheet.

From my experience, Non-Techies and spreadsheets don’t pair well together. Who better to fix that than Claude? We’ll test it once it’s live and let you know if it delivers on its promises.

Some more interesting stuff we found this week:

👀 Our 12-week Copilot course teaches you how to go from complete novice to the go-to Copilot pro in your office.

🎥 Google releases a TV ad made totally from AI.

💰 OpenAI is considering an IPO next year, with a suggested valuation of $1T.

Right, I'd better get back to it. I reckon if you printed out the number of unread emails I’ve come home to and sent them to my house, it’d be like that scene in Harry Potter with the envelopes coming through the fireplace.

See you next week,

Heather and the AIFNT team.