The AI chatbot race is on! Several companies are racing to have the most capable chatbot, and Microsoft’s hotrod is called Bing AI. With everything going on in the tech world now, it’s hard to keep up with every chatbot, so Bing AI might fly under your radar.
But, don’t worry. We’re going to talk about Bing AI, what it is, how it compares to chatGPT, its capabilities, and more. Here’s everything you need to know about Microsoft Bing AI.
Before we start
We at AH are working on informing you about the various AI chatbots out there, so we have a lot of content on them. You can start with Everything you need to know about ChatGPT. We also tell you everything you need to know about Google Bard and about Snapchat My AI. If you want more, we also have the top 10 AI chatbots out there.
How do I access Bing AI?
Microsoft used to have a waitlist for people who wanted to access Bing AI, but now it’s no more. All you have to do is go to this site. There, you’ll sign in with your Microsoft account. When you do that, you’ll be taken right to the Bing search engine under the Chat tab.
Note that you can not use Bing AI on Google Chrome. (Shocker, huh?) As you can expect, it’s recommended that you use Microsoft’s Edge browser for the best and most optimized experience.
If you’re using Windows 11, and you’re on the most up-to-date version, you’ll see the Bing AI logo on the search bar on the taskbar. When you click on it, you’ll see a shelf rise from the taskbar. Click on the Bing AI logo on the top right. That will take you to the Bing AI page in the Edge browser. [Disclaimer: At the time of writing this article, Microsoft is still figuring out how it wants to implement Bing AI. There’s a chance that this will change.]
How much does it cost to use?
Absolutely nothing. Bing AI is free to sign up for and free to use. There are also no monthly subscriptions that offer extra perks. It’s all free to use.
How does Microsoft monetize its chatbot?
At the time of writing this article, Bing is not monetized. However, there are reports that Microsoft is going to introduce ads into the results. This will help create another revenue stream for the platform. At this time, we don’t know how they’re going to work.
Does Bing AI function like a search engine?
Yes. While Bing AI is based on ChatGPT, it’s very different in how it retrieves data and presents it. When you ask it a question, most of the time, it will actually do a Bing search for the information. Then, the chatbot presents the information in a conversational and concise manner.
Say, you type in something like “Give me a list of 18th-century artists”, you’ll see it actually do a Bing search for 18th-century artists. When it presents you with the results, you’ll see the sources where it found the information. On the bottom of the chat bubble, it will show you buttons with the sources it found the information.
So, you can type in all types of searches like “Find me a site that talks about Android news”, “I need a flight to Miami”, “I need an inexpensive violin”. It will function just like the Bing search engine and deliver your results.
Is Bing AI accurate?
It’s as accurate as AI can be at this point. Using it, you can expect the bulk of the facts it reels in to be correct. However, there are instances when it gives you inaccurate information. For instance, it said that Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31st, 1792; in reality, he was born in 1732. It’s little things like those that you’ll need to keep an eye out for.
How is it with conversations?
Bing AI leans heavily into being a fancy search engine, so it doesn’t prioritize being a conversational chatbot. However, that’s not to say that it’s bad at conversations. There are three conversation modes that you can choose: Creative, Balanced, and Precise. When you choose the Creative option, the chatbot will attempt to answer you in a more conversational way. This includes asking questions about you, your feelings, your interests, other people involved in the conversation, etc.
There’s one issue, though. When this mode is activated, the bot will sometimes give you a random dump of information that it pulls from a search. We tested it with a conversation about jazz music, then it randomly gave a wall of text about the birth of jazz and its history, and gave a YouTube video recommendation. That’s less conversational and more search-oriented.
What kind of written content can it produce?
While Bing AI is based on ChatGPT, it’s still a search engine down on the molecular level. This means that it’s best used if you’re looking for information, not content. Whereas ChatGPT can produce poems, reviews, articles, essays, and other forms of content, Bing AI is much more limited. A lot of the time, instead of creating content, it will do a search. When asked to write a poem, it did a search and found a poem from a website.
We were able to get it to produce bits of code, short stories, and eulogies. However, the eulogy was as dry as a bone. So, if you’re looking for insane AI-powered generative capabilities, Bing AI is not the one to provide.
How does Bing AI compare to ChatGPT?
Given the differences in mentality, it’s tough comparing both chatbots. ChatGPT is a chatbot, Bing AI is a search engine with a chatbot facade. There are some things that both can do, but at the end of the day, you’re using Bing AI as a replacement for Bing Search.
It’s tied to the information that it pulls in real-time from the web. It’s meant to bring you search results and present pages for you to click on. That way, Microsoft can generate more ad revenue.
So, if you’re looking for ideas, content, conversations, etc., you should look towards ChatGPT. If you use Bing often, and you’re looking for information, recommendations, and other things you can find using a search engine, then Bing AI is the one for you.
2023-04-06 15:08:54