Microsoft to Limit Chat Sessions on Bing Search Engine
Microsoft has announced that it will impose restrictions on the chat sessions in its newly updated Bing search engine. The search engine, powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), will limit chat sessions to five questions per session and 50 questions per day. Microsoft has said that very long chat sessions can confuse the underlying chat model in the new Bing, which led them to implement changes to help focus the chat sessions.
The Decision to Limit Chat Sessions
In a recent blog post, Microsoft addressed the concerns raised by media outlets that answers from the new Bing search engine could potentially be dangerous and that the technology might not be ready for prime time. Early search results and conversations with Microsoft’s Bing and Google’s chatbot, called Bard, have shown that they can be unpredictable. The company’s decision to limit chat sessions is aimed at addressing these concerns.
Microsoft’s New Bing
The new Bing search engine is a potentially lucrative opportunity for Microsoft. The company said during an investor and press presentation last week that every percentage point of market share it gains in the search advertising market could bring in another $2 billion of ad revenue. The upgraded Bing enables a new kind of search in which people can pose questions to the search engine in natural language, and Bing will generate direct answers and suggestions, as opposed to pointing users towards different websites.
Microsoft’s Response to Negative Feedback
Just over a week after Microsoft unveiled its new Bing search engine, powered by the technology behind the ChatGPT artificial-intelligence chatbot, the Wall Street Journal reported that early testers were calling out mistakes and disturbing responses generated by the technology. Microsoft said that the search engine is still a work in progress and described the past week as a learning experience that is helping it test and improve the new Bing. The company said in a blog post that the Bing upgrade is “not a replacement or substitute for the search engine, rather a tool to better understand and make sense of the world.”
Positive Feedback on the New Bing
Despite the negative feedback, Microsoft has stated that feedback on the new Bing so far has been mostly positive, with 71 percent of users giving it the “thumbs-up.” The company has also discussed the criticism and concerns, stating that many of the technical issues reported have been addressed with daily releases, and even more will be addressed with larger releases each week.
Addressing Concerns on Biases in AI Systems
OpenAI has also addressed concerns about the growing negative attention on the technology, stating that it takes time to train and refine ChatGPT, and having people use it is the way to find and fix its biases and other unwanted outcomes. The Wall Street Journal has said that Microsoft’s quick response to user feedback reflects the importance it sees in people’s reactions to the budding technology as it looks to push back against Alphabet’s dominance in search through its Google unit.
Conclusion
In summary, Microsoft has decided to limit chat sessions on its newly updated Bing search engine, powered by generative AI, to five questions per session and 50 questions per day. This is aimed at addressing concerns raised by media outlets that answers from the new Bing search engine could potentially be dangerous. Despite the negative feedback, Microsoft remains committed to improving the new Bing and has stated that the feedback so far has been mostly positive. The company is aiming to use the technology to push back against Alphabet’s dominance in search through its Google unit.