Screen Sharing

Screen Sharing lets you show an app window that's currently open on your screen directly to an AI, like snapping a photo of it. It originally referred to sharing materials with someone else during a video call, but now it's used the same way with AI assistants. If you have a spreadsheet open and ask "what looks off here?", the AI can look straight at that window without you having to take a screenshot or upload a file.

Think of it like calling a coworker over and pointing at your monitor, saying "take a look at this." Instead of emailing a file and waiting for the other person to open it, you're handing over exactly what's on screen right now.

The important thing is that the whole screen isn't automatically shared all the time. Usually, the user chooses which window (app) to show. This prevents other open windows or notifications from being unintentionally exposed to the AI.

An article about Meta AI's Mac app describes Screen Sharing as "attaching the app screen specified by the user as context for the conversation." The part that's easy to misunderstand is that this isn't continuous, real-time monitoring of the entire screen — it's attaching a specific window the user picks to the conversation as needed.

1. Open an AI app that supports Screen Sharing.
2. In the chat window, click the Screen Sharing (or screen attach) button and select the window you're currently viewing.
3. Ask a question pointing to the screen content, like "find anything off on this screen."
4. Check that the AI answers based on that screen directly, without a screenshot or file upload.