Bing search will be more conversational and interactive, almost like a smart AI assistant, rather than simply displaying endless links, as most search engines currently do.
The search industry's future will be different. That was clear following Microsoft's surprise AI event last night, which was co-hosted by OpenAI, the tech startup behind ChatGPT and Dall-E. Microsoft announced plans at the event to integrate more artificial intelligence (AI) features into Bing search, powered by a new and larger language learning model (LLM) from OpenAI. According to what Microsoft demonstrated, Bing search will be more conversational and interactive, almost like a smart AI assistant, rather than simply displaying endless links as it is now. Let's take a look at what Microsoft announced and why it comes at such an important time.
What exactly is the new Bing search?
Bing's new avatar will enable it to provide more conversational answers in the form of essays and summaries. Yes, it will still display links, but it will also provide a "summarised answer" on the right based on "consolidating reliable sources across the web," according to Microsoft's blog post.
According to the demos, Bing's new chat experience will also write poems, and stories, and even give tips on what to do in a specific city, all with the goal of making search appear more personalized. However, keep in mind that this is still a limited release, and users must sign up for the waitlist in order to gain access. When it becomes available, the Bing search experience will be available on both the desktop and the respective apps.
So, basically, Bing search is becoming ChatGPT?
No, not exactly. For one thing, Microsoft's Bing Search will continue to display links, even in essay-style answers - the links are displayed at the bottom of these answers. At the moment, ChatGPT does not display links. However, it is fair to say that OpenAI and the large language models (LLM) that helped create ChatGPT are providing significant assistance to Bing.
According to Microsoft's blog post, the LLM powering Bing is larger than the one used to run ChatGPT, though the exact size is not specified. This also means that Bing's AI chat will have more answers and a larger knowledge pool than ChatGPT, which is limited to events before 2021.
However, Bing's AI chat experience will undoubtedly make it feel more like ChatGPT. Users will be able to ask "follow-up questions" to their previous questions as well.
The new AI features also employ a "Prometheus model," as Microsoft refers to it. This is a "proprietary way of working with the OpenAI model" that Microsoft claims to ensure it can use these language models in the best possible way to provide "relevant, timely, and targeted results..."
What about the precision of the answers?
Because these features are still in early preview, Microsoft warns that not all answers will be correct. Bing search will also allow users to mark answers as incorrect if necessary, which will aid in feedback. The company acknowledges that because the answers are based on the web knowledge, they may be inaccurate, and has advised users to use their own discretion when using these AI-based answers. At the end of the day, many of the AI chat's responses are based on web-sourced knowledge, some of which may be incorrect.
The post continues, "We have developed a safety system that is designed to mitigate failures and avoid misuse with things like content filtering, operational monitoring, abuse detection, and other safeguards." That is also why the feature is being rolled out in stages.
So, will Bing's search eventually dethrone Google?
It's too early to tell, but Microsoft's announcement and the viral interest in ChatGPT have Google worried. Indeed, Google announced its own ChatGPT competitor, Bard, earlier this week. It will also hold an AI event in Paris later tonight to showcase some new AI products. This event will also provide more information about Bard. Google has also promised to add more AI-powered search features.
Nonetheless, it is fair to say that Microsoft has taken the lead in AI-related developments, and its announcement will have significant implications for Bing. Bing search has never been as popular as Google search, which has dominated the search market for decades. However, with AI features that provide precise, precise, and interesting answers, the nature of how people search is bound to change. And if Bing and OpenAI keep improving and scaling faster, Google could be in big trouble.