[Day 6] What Gamma.app Gets Right About AI Presentations (That Claude and ChatGPT Don't)
[Day 6] What Gamma.app Gets Right About AI Presentations (That Claude and ChatGPT Don't)
I've tried using Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini to create presentations and the results were always underwhelming. The content was decent, but the formatting? A manual nightmare. So when I tested Gamma.app with a genuinely complex use case (employee offboarding compliance across six Asia-Pacific countries), I wanted to see if a specialized tool could actually deliver what general-purpose AI assistants can't: polished, presentation-ready output in minutes, not hours. Here's exactly what happened, step by step, including the limitations they don't tell you about upfront.
What happens when you feed a complex work topic into an AI presentation tool? Today I tested Gamma.app to see if specialized AI tools really do outperform general-purpose assistants for visual content creation.
Today's Experiment
I wanted to create a professional presentation on employee offboarding across Asia-Pacific markets. It’s a topic that requires handling dense regulatory information across six different countries. The question: Could a specialized presentation tool like Gamma.app produce something usable faster than wrestling with general-purpose AI assistants and slide software?
I've previously tried using Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini to generate presentation content, then manually formatting slides. The results were always... fine. But the process was clunky, and the visual output never quite matched what a designer would produce.
The Process
Step 1: Selecting the use case
Gamma.app offers several creation modes right from the start, which tells you they've thought about the different jobs-to-be-done for presentation creation.
Gamma.app onboarding screen showing various options.
I selected "Create presentations from scratch" since I wanted to test the full generation capability.
Step 2: Configuring the output
The interface lets you specify your output type and basic parameters before you even write your prompt.
Generate screen showing output type options
My prompt: "Offboarding process and checklist for manager and employee"
I changed the card count from 10 to 5 to keep the presentation focused.
Step 3: Reviewing the AI-generated outline
Before generating the full presentation, Gamma showed me a preview of the proposed slide structure. This is a smart design choice—you can adjust before committing credits to full generation.
Outline preview showing cards with slide titles
Continuation showing cards 4-5 with "Knowledge Transfer and Documentation" and "Final Steps and Beyond," plus the "Customize your gamma" panel with Text Content density options: Minimal, Concise, Detailed, Extensiv
The proposed structure:
Creating a Seamless Offboarding Experience: A Complete Guide for Managers and Employees
The Strategic Importance of Proper Offboarding: Protecting Your Organization and Supporting Departing Talent
Pre-Departure Checklist: Essential Tasks for the Final Two Weeks
Knowledge Transfer and Documentation: Ensuring Business Continuity Beyond Employee Exit
Final Steps and Beyond: Exit Interviews, Asset Return, and Maintaining Professional Networks
Step 4: Customizing content and visuals
This is where Gamma differentiates itself from general-purpose AI tools. You get granular control over how the content appears.
The content density options let you decide upfront whether you're creating slides for live presentation (Concise) or a leave-behind document (Detailed/Extensive). I selected "Detailed" but in hindsight, this created slides that were too text-heavy for a 16:9 format.
Visuals panel showing "Image source" set to "AI images," "AI image model" set to "Auto-select," and "Image art style" options displaying Illustration, Photo, Abstract, 3D, Line Art (selected), and Custom thumbnails
For visuals, you can select:
Image source: AI-generated images with model selection
Image art style: Illustration, Photo, Abstract, 3D, Line Art, or Custom
I selected "Line Art" for illustrations to keep the aesthetic clean and professional.
Step 5: Theme selection and generation
Finally, you pick a visual theme before generation.
After hitting "Generate," the first output was generic. But here's the key: I then refined the prompt to focus specifically on Asia-Pacific countries (Singapore, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, Philippines), and Gamma regenerated with country-specific legal requirements, notice periods, and cultural considerations.
Outputs
The final presentation included:
A title slide with a clean line-art cityscape illustration
A legal framework slide covering employment laws across all six APAC markets
A universal offboarding checklist with timeline-based organization
Country-specific considerations for notice periods, cultural sensitivity, and mandatory payments
Implementation tools with a process framework and action plan
What struck me most was the information architecture. The tool automatically organized dense regulatory content into digestible cards with visual hierarchy—something that would have taken me significant time to structure manually.
What I Learned Today
Specialized tools have tuned their models for specific outputs. The fact that Gamma lets you select text density, illustration style, and content detail level shows they've thought carefully about the variables that matter for presentations. General-purpose AI assistants give you text; Gamma gives you slides.
The preview/outline step is genuinely useful. Being able to see the proposed structure before generation—and adjust the number of cards—prevented wasted iterations.
There are limitations they don't surface clearly. When I selected "Detailed" content, some slides became too text-heavy for a 16:9 format. The tool doesn't warn you that more detailed content might not fit well into presentation dimensions. This is a real consideration for anyone using the output in a live presentation versus as a leave-behind document.
The first draft is exactly that—a first draft. The initial generic output wasn't particularly useful. The value came from refining the prompt with specific requirements (country coverage, regulatory focus). Like all AI tools, the quality of your input dramatically affects the output.
Export flexibility matters. Being able to export to PDF (and other formats) means the output is immediately usable in real workflows—not stuck in a proprietary format.
This is the best AI presentation generation I've seen. Despite the limitations, the combination of speed (under 5 minutes), visual polish, and content structure makes this genuinely practical for creating first-draft presentations that you can then refine.
Sign up for a free account (you get 400 credits to start)
Select "Create presentations from scratch"
Enter a topic you know well—this lets you evaluate the quality of the AI's output
Experiment with the customization options:
Try different content density levels to see how it affects slide readability
Test various image styles to find what matches your brand
Use the outline preview to adjust structure before generation
After the first generation, refine your prompt with specific requirements
Export to your preferred format
Pro tip: Start with "Concise" content if you're creating slides for live presentation. Use "Detailed" or "Extensive" if you're creating a leave-behind document or something people will read rather than watch.
The human skill here isn't creating slides—it's knowing what content needs to exist, how it should be structured for your audience, and when the AI output needs refinement. The AI handles the visual formatting and information organization; you bring the domain expertise and editorial judgment.
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