The new Bing – it’s still too early for a real test

The new Bing – it’s still too early for a real test

8. Februar 2023 0 Von Horst Buchwald

The new Bing – it’s still too early for a real test

San Francisco, 2/8/2023

They wanted to show the world what they’re made of – the makers at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond (Washington) – and presented their Bing-integrated ChatBot in a surprise event.

I immediately took the opportunity and started by asking some stupid questions like: „Who stole the nut“? i love nuts But what was presented to me were all colorful nut books for children.

Alright. Something serious: „What do you know about the childhood of Alexander the Great?“

I was amazed – because the bot referred me to websites – addresses for tutoring students. It didn’t help if I became more specific – i.e. wanted to know who the main enemy of the great conqueror was. I was a student, because the nut question exposed me. So only relevant student sites came into question. But can the students cope with this colorful basket of websites?

Conclusion: Bing failed me in this performance.

However, my experience differs significantly from the highlights presented by Microsoft.

After that, Bing should have the following new functions:

1. The new AI-powered Bing searches for web content, summarizes it and shows annotated answers.

2. A new search bar prompts users to ask questions and get answers in a conversation-like manner.

3. The results are divided into two columns. Traditional answers are shown on the left, while a box on the right explains how the AI came up with these answers.

4. Additionally, the results page offers a new chat interface for users to converse with a chatbot about their search.

5. You can interact and ask more specific questions and also click the stop answering button.

6. The chat interface can generate content based on user input, e.g. B. ask the bot to create a meal plan or offer ideas for a vacation.

The new Bing relies on the latest OpenAI language model.

Specifically, it’s based on what Microsoft calls the „Prometheus model,“ a more powerful version of GPT 3.5 from partner OpenAI that’s focused on search queries.

Unlike ChatGPT, the new Bing also appears to be able to provide answers based on recent events, including stories about its own launch today.

Then I got the notice: „The new Bing is now live in a desktop-limited preview that only serves pre-set queries. Users can join a waitlist to request full access to AI-powered Bing.“

Microsoft said it will roll out the new search engine to millions of users by the end of the month. A mobile version is also planned.

Also at today’s event, Microsoft announced a new AI-powered Edge web browser with chat and compose capabilities.

Located in the browser sidebar, the AI aggregates the content of a webpage and creates new content from user prompts.

The features are in preview rolling out to some users and available through the Microsoft Edge developer channel.