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In a new effort to jump ahead of leading search engine Google, Microsoft has announced an update to its Bing browser with a feature that integrates ChatGPT and allows it to answer search terms.
When users now search for answers in Bing, they will see answers presented by “Bing AI” using OpenAI’s GPT-4. Users can then continue dialogue with the artificial intelligence (AI) for follow-up questions.
The app and Edge browser are the only way to access the new Bing AI, and Microsoft is limiting access for the time being, with users needing to join a waitlist.
The move, which was announced back in February, has seen users flood to the search engine, with the Bing App jumping its way to the 12th-most popular free iPhone app, with a 10 times increase in downloads globally, according to data.ai.
Additionally, the Edge browser became the third-most popular utility app.
Microsoft has doubled down on the interest in AI and the demand to trial its new ChatGPT features by giving users the opportunity to move further up the waitlist by completing tasks such as setting Microsoft Edge as the default browser on their PC and scanning a QR code on a mobile to download the Microsoft Bing app.
However, the mass migration to the often-forgotten-about search browser has shown that consumer demand for AI-powered assistance is high, particularly with users willing to stray from Google to go for Bing.
However, the new AI capabilities are not without their downsides. Bing AI responses that pop up in a search come with a notice saying that the results are “summarized from x number of sources”, providing links to all the sites it drew information from.
While potentially making things easier for users, this can have a dramatic effect on a large number of content creators and websites that collected and presented this information in the first place, heavily stunting their internet traffic and ad revenue and potentially making their business unprofitable.
Furthermore, as ChatGPT has demonstrated, its answers are not always correct, as the AI can collect incorrect source information or misunderstand the information it has collected.
Industry leaders and top executives are already discussing the possibilities of AI as the next major step in technological advancement, with banks like Westpac looking to implement generative AI like ChatGPT in both its security teams and its email writing.
Microsoft has said that the update is designed to improve the output of search and the web for users with more relevant information and accurate answers.
“AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all — search,” said Microsoft chairman and chief executive Satya Nadella.
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