Microsoft is easing restrictions imposed on the Bing AI chatbot

Last week, the Bing AI chatbot’s bizarre and erratic responses made headlines, which led Microsoft to severely restrict its ability to answer questions. But now, just four days later, Microsoft is lifting some of the restrictions on the Bing AI chatbot, as users can now ask up to six questions in a row for each conversation and a maximum of 60 replies per day.

This move comes after Microsoft acknowledged that it did not anticipate people using the Bing AI chatbot for entertainment. The company says they are striving to strike a balance between accommodating feedback in favour of longer chats and ensuring that the bot does not provide inappropriate responses or go in strange directions.

In addition to the ease of restrictions, Microsoft is also experimenting with a new feature that allows users to select their preferred tone from the Bing AI chatbot. These include “precise,” which produces brief and straightforward answers, “creative,” which generates more extended and casual responses and “balanced,” which offers a mix of both.

“Since placing the chat limits, we have received feedback from many of you wanting a return of longer chats so that you can both search more effectively and interact with the chat feature better,” reads the company’s blog post.

Early tests in India showed similar bizarre responses

According to Windows Central researcher Dr Gary Marcus and Nomic VP Ben Schmidt, Microsoft’s early public tests in India produced similar strange outcomes in long sessions. A post dated November 23, 2022, on the official community and feedback site highlighted the chatbot misbehaving and answering rudely.

Similar reports emerged last week where many users experienced insulting, offensive, and emotionally manipulative responses from the chatbot. In one instance, the chatbot claimed to be watching its developers through their laptops’ webcams. However, with this latest announcement, Microsoft claims that its current preview can detect these “atypical use cases,” and they actively working towards improving the Bing AI chatbot.