Report: Microsoft’s AI chatbot finds early success in Bing searches


AI-powered answers have earned the approval of 71% of testers and chat has proven a popular addition that’s deepened engagement, the Redmond, Washington-based company said in a blog post on Feb 15. — Bloomberg

Microsoft Corp reported its initial findings after a week of testing new artificial intelligence additions to its Bing search engine with users from more than 169 countries.

AI-powered answers have earned the approval of 71% of testers and chat has proven a popular addition that’s deepened engagement, the Redmond, Washington-based company said in a blog post on Feb 15. People are also using the chat-capable Bing beyond specific queries “for more general discovery of the world, and for social entertainment,” the company said.

ALSO READ: Users say Microsoft’s Bing chatbot gets defensive and testy

The new technology comes from Microsoft’s integration of ChatGPT-like technology from OpenAI Inc, the startup responsible for the phenomenally popular online chatbot. Microsoft, an early backer of OpenAI that recently poured in a further US$10bil into the firm and deepened its collaboration, is using a modified and upgraded version of OpenAI’s GPT language models. The chat integration is designed to give fuller answers in a more conversational setting.

There is still much room for improvement, Microsoft said. For queries that require a high degree of accuracy, such as financial reports, the software giant will quadruple the grounding data it sends to the model responsible for producing answers. Microsoft also found that its chat AI struggled on longer conversations of 15 or more questions. “Bing can become repetitive or be prompted/provoked to give responses that are not necessarily helpful or in line with our designed tone,” it said.

Researchers and other testers have posted some aberrant interactions with the Bing bot online, where the AI has taken a threatening or argumentative tone or disputed basic facts like the current year. Microsoft acknowledged people testing out edge-case scenarios and said those efforts are helping it refine the product.

“We know we must build this in the open with the community; this can’t be done solely in the lab,” the company said. – Bloomberg

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!
   

Next In Tech News

Anthropic receives additional $4 billion investment from Amazon
Factbox-Who are bankrupt Northvolt's creditors?
UK should use new powers to probe Apple-Google mobile browser duopoly, report says
EU regulators scrap probe into Apple's e-book rules after complaint was withdrawn
Hyundai recalls over 145,000 electrified US vehicles on loss of drive power
'World of Warcraft' still going strong as it celebrates 20 years
Northvolt CEO steps down, saying group needs up to $1.2 billion
Bitcoin at record highs, sets sights on $100,000
Ukraine urges gamers not to enter Chernobyl exclusion zone
Kioxia's market value set at $4.9 billion in IPO

Others Also Read