This article is Sponsored Content by Sergey Zarubin for ONLYOFFICE Docs
The buzz around ChatGPT and other similar chatbots inevitably produces a question about their practical application. Are the AI tools, like ChatGPT, just stand-alone services designed for specific purposes, for example, code generation or essay writing? Or can they become part of more complex systems and software solutions making it easier for us to perform routine tasks?
There already exist special extensions for web browsers, like Chrome, Microsoft, Firefox or Edge, which allow you to enter your questions and get the answers proposed by ChatGPT. This makes the process of Information seeking as easy as possible even though you don’t have to trust all the information provided by the chatbot.
Another promising direction is the implementation of AI tools in office software. In this article, you will learn how you can use ChatGPT while editing and collaborating on documents in ONLYOFFICE Docs, an open-source alternative to Google Docs and Microsoft 365.
What is ONLYOFFICE Docs and why does it deserve your attention?
ONLYOFFICE Docs is a comparatively new player in the office software market. Although it has been developed since 2012, it’s not as popular as the products made by the tech giants, Google Docs and Microsoft 365. However, ONLYOFFICE Docs has some aces up its sleeve.
First of all, ONLYOFFICE Docs is an open-source software tool whose source code is available to everyone on GitHub, the biggest online software development platform used for storing, tracking and collaborating on software projects.
Secondly, ONLYOFFICE Docs provides all the required tools to deal with the most popular office files, including text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, digital forms and even PDF files, all in one package.
Thirdly, using this office suite, you can easily open, edit and collaborate on any Word, Excel and PowerPoint files due to its native compatibility with OOXML (DOCX, XSLX and PPTX), probably the most widely accepted file extensions for office docs.
Fourthly, ONLYOFFICE Docs makes it possible to create a secure collaborative environment by enabling document editing and co-authoring within various business platforms. Some of the most prominent integration examples are Nextcloud, SharePoint, WordPress, Seafile, ownCloud, Alfresco, Confluence, Jira, Redmine, etc. Thanks to its open API and WOPI support, ONLYOFFICE Docs can be built into any web-based software application.
Finally, ONLYOFFICE Docs comes with free apps for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS and Android, which allows you to access your documents and collaborate on them from any device and on all platforms: web, desktop and mobile.
After looking into the benefits of ONLYOFFICE Docs, let’s find out how to use ChatGPT in ONLYOFFICE Docs.
ONLYOFFICE Docs and ChatGPT: how to enable the chatbot
ChatGPT, an easy-to-use AI chatbot that is capable of maintaining conversations like a human being, is available in all versions of ONLYOFFICE Docs. You can use the AI tool in the self-hosted version of the suite and the cloud-based version. ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors supports the chatbot, too.
To get access to ChatGPT’s functionality, you need to install the corresponding plugin through the Plugin manager, which you can find on the top toolbar. All you have to do now is to open the Plugins tab and click the Plugin Manager button. You will see all the available third-party plugins for ONLYOFFICE Docs. Browse the list and find ChatGPT. Click the Install button, and the ChatGPT icon will instantly appear on the Plugins tab. Now you can close the Manager and click ChatGPT to access the chatbot service.
When you click the plugin’s icon, you will see the ChatGPT interface on the left panel. Now you need to insert an API key to be able to use the chatbot. You can buy a key from OpenAI.
Enter your API key into the corresponding field and click the Save button. Now you can use the chatbot while editing your documents. You can access it at any moment by clicking its icon on the Plugins tab.
For your convenience, you can try to set up the plugin’s configuration by changing its parameters. For example, the Model parameter lets you select the most suitable AI model for processing your prompts and giving accurate answers, and the Maximum length parameter is the number of response tokens used in the answers provided by ChatGPT.
Try adjusting the parameters in different ways to make the most of the chatbot’s functionality.
How to use ChatGPT: some common scenarios
Now that you have the ChatGPT plugin installed and correctly configured, you can start interacting with the chatbot. Imagine that you need to know what the weather is like in Australia. Open the plugin, enter your request into the text field and click the Submit button.
The chatbot will process your request and insert the answer in the document as plain text:
There are some other things that ChatGPT can do for you in ONLYOFFICE Docs. For example:
- Writing essays;
- Finding information for your presentations;
- Translating texts into foreign languages;
- Checking texts for grammar and style mistakes;
- Writing code snippets;
- Inserting images and so on.
Just a friendly reminder: no matter what kind of task you are going to perform with ChatGPT, you shouldn’t blindly rely on its answers. ChatGPT is just a useful AI assistant, not the panacea for all woes.
