With Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered chatbot, which is currently in public preview, you can pick up where you left off and go back to prior discussions using Bing’s chatbot history feature.
New AI features have arrived to Bing | Image: Microsoft
- Anyone can now test out Bing, Microsoft’s AI-powered search engine, which includes new functions like video responses, inline actions, and chat history.
- With forthcoming integrations from Wolfram Alpha for visualizations, OpenTable for meal reservations, Apple TV for movie searches, and many more, Bing’s AI chatbot is also getting plugin support.
- As long as your Microsoft account is signed into Bing, you can test out the new capabilities. Use the Edge browser from Microsoft for the best results.
A public preview of Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing chatbot is available
Three months ago, Microsoft released a restricted preview of the AI-powered Bing search experience. On May 4, 2023, Microsoft declared that the «new Bing» is now open to all customers without a waiting. All you have to do is use the Edge browser to log in to bing.com using your Microsoft account.
Although Apple’s Safari and other browsers are supported, Edge is advised if you want to test out the most recent Bing features.
Updates to Bing’s AI chatbot include:
History of Bing’s chatbot and persistent chat
The majority of users asked for this. Before, closing a chat session would cause Bing to forget every interaction it had with the user, but now that Bing has a history across sessions, you can pick up where you left off at a later time.
Additionally, Bing will soon be able to export your chats to Word and share your exchanges on Twitter, making life easier for users who rely on it as a research tool.
third-party Apple TV movie search plugins, etc
Third-party plugins will begin to be made available, according to Microsoft’s Bing Blog, in a few weeks. To expand Bing’s capability into new areas, the business has acknowledged that it is collaborating with a number of renowned developers. OpenTable for reservations at restaurants, Apple TV for movie searches, OpenAI for integrations, and more third parties offer custom actions for Bing. You may finish tasks inline thanks to Bing plugins.
When you search for nearby restaurants, Bing can also recommend the optimal time for you to make a reservation and assist you in doing so. Additionally, Bing’s AI is capable of opening the appropriate website and starting the movie for search results on its own.
Visual hunt
Additionally, Microsoft added graphs, charts, and updated formatting to Bing’s image and video results. More crucially, a forthcoming new function will enable users to ask Bing for particular images or videos of things, locations, animals, and more (this will surface real results, not AI-generated art). Now available in more than 100 languages is Bing’s image creation tool.
Features specific to edges
While all of the features previously mentioned are compatible with Edge, Firefox, and Safari browsers, some features are exclusive to Edge.
For instance, the compose function in the Edge sidebar offers new options for text generation’s tonality. According to Microsoft, Edge for mobile will eventually allow you to inquire about the page that is now open, just as Edge for desktop.
And when you click a link in the Bing chatbot’s response, Edge will automatically shift that conversation into its sidebar so you can keep talking to the bot while you visit the website.
100 million daily active users on Bing
Bing currently has more than 100 million daily active users, according to Microsoft. Although this number is impressive, it is a far cry from the billions of people who use Google every day. Microsoft would not have a care in the world if Bing vanished overnight. However, competition is always a good thing, as OpenAI’s ChatGPT demonstrates very well.
Microsoft was quick to act, signing a deal with OpenAI to include its chatbot into a number of its products, including Bing, Teams, Edge, Office, the SwiftKey keyboard, and more.
There is no doubting that this industry now feels a greater sense of urgency as a result of recent AI advancements, and Microsoft recognized this as an opportunity too excellent to pass up.