Binging chat – Microsoft to challenge Google by integrating ChatGPT with Bing search

[Lightwreather]

Summary

In a bid to make it more competitive with Google, Microsoft is allegedly looking into launching a version of Bing that integrates ChatGPT, the AI conversationalist, by the end of March. Microsoft’s use of ChatGPT-like functionality could help Bing rival Google’s Knowledge Graph, a knowledge base that Google uses to serve up instant answers that are regularly updated from crawling the web and user feedback. If Microsoft is ambitious, though, it could even go much further, offering many new types of AI-based functionality.

However, exactly how Microsoft intends to integrate the AI and what it will be used for is still up in the air.

 

Quotes

Quote

Microsoft is reportedly planning to launch a version of Bing that uses ChatGPT to answer search queries. The Information reports that Microsoft hopes to launch the new feature before the end of March in a bid to make Bing more competitive with Google.

By using the technology behind ChatGPT — which is built by AI company OpenAI — Bing could provide more humanlike answers to questions instead of just links to information. Both Google and Bing already surface relevant information from links at the top of many search queries, but Google’s knowledge panels are particularly widespread when it comes to searching for information about people, places, organizations, and things.

Based on GPT-3.5, a large language model released last year, ChatGPT has wowed the web with its ability to generate answers and authentic-looking essays across an array of topics. But for all its skills, the system still has major flaws — including racial biases and a tendency to present incorrect information as true fact.

Even OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has cautioned that “it’s a mistake to be relying on [ChatGPT] for anything important right now.” Exactly how Microsoft plans to integrate ChatGPT into Bing will be important, and it’s likely the company will start with beta tests and a limited amount of integration before it’s ready for all Bing users to take advantage of.

My thoughts

This is interesting, however it does bring up certain concerns. For how good the AI is, there are still flaws. Even the OpenAI CEO concurs, one shouldn't be relying on ChatGPT for important stuff. But given Microsoft and OpenAI's relationship, they might be able to work through those issues. But again, we'll have to wait and see how this pans out, and imo there are two ways this pans out – either Bing becomes Amazing or it becomes amazingly terrible to use. 

 

Sources

TheVerge [Quoted]

The Information [Walled by login]

[suicidalfranco]

would have made more sense to set it as a replacement to Cortana, and as an assistant within office.

 

[Vulkan HeStan]

I've had the misfortune of using Bing because it's the default search engine for Edge

 

Bing's problem is it's full of pop-ups and features, the UI is cluttered and barely usable, compared to Google, even by Google's rather slack standards today

 

Microsoft need to remove things from Bing, not add them, if they want people to even consider using it

[Mark Kaine]

48 minutes ago, Vulkan HeStan said:

I've had the misfortune of using Bing because it's the default search engine for Edge

 

Bing's problem is it's full of pop-ups and features, the UI is cluttered and barely usable, compared to Google, even by Google's rather slack standards today

 

Microsoft need to remove things from Bing, not add them, if they want people to even consider using it

 

I always find such claims... intriguing...

So i checked... 

 

...???

 

there was exactly "one" popup "try the app" and it was easily closed...

 

i think you're maybe mistaking binge with edge, which isn't the same thing.

 

i wouldn't say its better or worse than google, but google really isnt great to begin with,  way too many "add links" and false/misleading info, just like chatGTP actually,  so maybe Microsoft is just trying to "catch up"? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

 

ps: here's google for comparison...

 

 

seems like they're going out of their way to show me *not* relevant things to my search term... eating? where did i say eating?  does google think im fat? (actually that seems to be a reoccurring thing for google search, they definitely try to make you feel bad -- or maybe google just hates me lol)

[Doobeedoo]

Oh not too surprising. Like not Cortana but still but seems more data this way.

[Mark Kaine]

Actually when i rate this, binge gets a 9/10... google gets a 1/10, both didn't find this thread, but binge did actually show *relevant* results instead of just plain ads camouflaged as "results"

 

1 hour ago, Lightwreather JfromN said:

However, exactly how Microsoft intends to integrate the AI and what it will be used for is still up in the air.

well i don't use edge or binge, but maybe binge is really just trying to catch up, idk how many features like google offers they have, like translate,  etc? 

 

So chatGTP seems like a good addition for binge either way,  especially *if you dont need an account* if you do it can die right in a fire as far im concerned

[soldier_ph]

10 hours ago, Lightwreather JfromN said:

it becomes amazingly terrible to use

Yeah that, even more so.

[GhostRoadieBL]

this brings up a whole genre of anti-compete and anti-monopoly issues. How many people will go to websites when the basic information answer is provided, even if incorrect, as the first search answer? This stands firmly against the whole purpose of the internet being many sources and many diverse websites from passionate individuals and groups.

if I type in "what's today's important news?" and ChatGPT spits out a generalized answer which may or may not be correct, It's basically bypassing the use of search algorithms (however flawed they are and easily manipulated by bad actors). It's a fun tool to use for basic queries but when it comes to any form of query, how helpless will people become when an answer is just handed to them without even having to look at an original article or reading more than a paragraph? This happened when Google disrupted the internet with easy searching of "every page on the internet" (now look at the corrupted dystopia it is today) I think we're heading down the same path but worse because it's MICROSOFT! One of the worst consumer faced companies on the planet.

[Mark Kaine]

8 hours ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

this brings up a whole genre of anti-compete and anti-monopoly issues. How many people will go to websites when the basic information answer is provided, even if incorrect, as the first search answer? This stands firmly against the whole purpose of the internet being many sources and many diverse websites from passionate individuals and groups.

agreed... i have nothing against "chatGTP" as a concept at all... what i don't like is it seems to exist for one purpose and one purpose only, to make money. Of course its "free" at first,  thats how they pretty much all started and also how drug dealers operate,  "free" always works as an entry point,  but thats not really the issue,  its the service itself and how its marketed,  and ultimately how awful it really is. sure its also fun and it does a good job mimicking a conversation  -- but thats an entirely different thing than being able to understand or being knowledgeable,  which neither of which "chatGTP" is capable of *obviously* (it's not programmed like that, but seemingly very much marketed like that in my impression) 

[mr moose]

If there is one thing you can count on from MS, It's their ability to integrate one shit product into another and then challenge the market leader like they should be afraid or something. But at the end of he day they'll still make more money than google regardless what they sell us.

 

 

[Vulkan HeStan]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:52 PM, Mark Kaine said:

 

I always find such claims... intriguing...

So i checked... 

 

...???

 

there was exactly "one" popup "try the app" and it was easily closed...

 

i think you're maybe mistaking binge with edge, which isn't the same thing.

 

i wouldn't say its better or worse than google, but google really isnt great to begin with,  way too many "add links" and false/misleading info, just like chatGTP actually,  so maybe Microsoft is just trying to "catch up"? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

 

ps: here's google for comparison...

 

 

seems like they're going out of their way to show me *not* relevant things to my search term... eating? where did i say eating?  does google think im fat? (actually that seems to be a reoccurring thing for google search, they definitely try to make you feel bad -- or maybe google just hates me lol)

I was talking about desktop

[Heliian]

And I thought they couldn't make bing any more useless.  

 

MS is a great shill for the chatgpt though.  

[Shreyas1]

On 1/4/2023 at 8:10 AM, Vulkan HeStan said:

I've had the misfortune of using Bing because it's the default search engine for Edge

 

Bing's problem is it's full of pop-ups and features, the UI is cluttered and barely usable, compared to Google, even by Google's rather slack standards today

 

Microsoft need to remove things from Bing, not add them, if they want people to even consider using it

I actually use bing, but only because I get free months of gamepass through bing rewards. Would be nice if more search engines did that (a rewards system)

 

I can't say I find the UI being cluttered as a main issue though.

[Stahlmann]

On 1/7/2023 at 1:20 AM, Heliian said:

And I thought they couldn't make bing any more useless.  

 

MS is a great shill for the chatgpt though.  

In what way would ChatGPT make it "more useless"? ChatGPT has shown that AI can be an incredibly useful tool. One that is hooked to the internet and integrated into a search engine has so much potential. Linus has been joking about how ChatGPT could already replace some of his own tech tips with quicker and more specific instructions.

 

As another example, it's capable of practically replacing entry level programming by just doing it for you. All you have to do is enter what type of program or script you want and it spits it out.

 

I see great potential and i'm open to an alternative to google, so i'm all for it. The worst that can happen is that bing is still bad, so you're free to use another service. The best that can happen is that bing becomes useful or even more useful than it's competitors. I see a win-win for us.

 

But i guess people are inherently against it because it's Microsoft and some sort of personal grudge is involved.

[Heliian]

13 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Microsoft and some sort of personal grudge is involved.

I have been a mictosoft user and supporter for decades now. 

 

Bing is absolute rubbish. 

 

Chatgpt isn't the savior in AI form that it's being pushed as.  It has applications like you said but I highly doubt it will catapult bing anywhere. 

[Stahlmann]

2 hours ago, Heliian said:

I have been a mictosoft user and supporter for decades now. 

 

Bing is absolute rubbish. 

 

Chatgpt isn't the savior in AI form that it's being pushed as.  It has applications like you said but I highly doubt it will catapult bing anywhere. 

I took these news as a starting point for a test. I'm gonna start bing today instead of google, then maybe i'll be able to tell if ChatGPT integration helped in any way. Who knows, maybe bing is actually decent and most people just hate it because everyone else does.

 

Kinda like Edge, which is among the best browsers. But most people still say it's bad just because.

[Orangeator]

This should be interesting. If they integrate Chat GPT well - it could steal some market share away from Google.

 

Remember guys, competition is always good. Google will eventually be forced to compete with their own AI integration within Google Search.

[Senzelian]

On 1/4/2023 at 2:52 PM, Mark Kaine said:

 

I always find such claims... intriguing...

So i checked... 

 

 

...???

 

there was exactly "one" popup "try the app" and it was easily closed...

 

i think you're maybe mistaking binge with edge, which isn't the same thing.

 

i wouldn't say its better or worse than google, but google really isnt great to begin with,  way too many "add links" and false/misleading info, just like chatGTP actually,  so maybe Microsoft is just trying to "catch up"? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

 

ps: here's google for comparison...

 

 

 

seems like they're going out of their way to show me *not* relevant things to my search term... eating? where did i say eating?  does google think im fat? (actually that seems to be a reoccurring thing for google search, they definitely try to make you feel bad -- or maybe google just hates me lol)

 

This is Bing's homepage. Welcome to 2012:

 

[Mark Kaine]

2 hours ago, Senzelian said:

 

This is Bing's homepage. Welcome to 2012:

 

looks good on mobile! 

 

i would actually use this if it wasn't for the damn "news"... why would i want news in my browser home page? its fucking stupid

 

 

i also use ms launcher btw, not kidding,  i love the aesthetic... and *no* news/nonsense anywhere! 

 

 

i mean there is a news button but .... thats not the same obviously i never use or see it...

 

 

the whole situation reminds of this:

 

 

@Senzelian actually...  its like this... no pop-ups? but... i had to hide the "news" in settings and it only works on desktop! 

 

apparently Microsoft thinks "mobile users hate options..." and make it extra difficult lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

 

edit: oh you also need to be signed in or it "forgets" everything and turns "news" back on right away!  also the process and experience of making several Microsoft accounts trying to "verify" your identity is certainly something... they will lock you out until you give them a phone number or email address...so i had to make yet another throwaway account to "verify"... not sure how that's legal to basically force you to give them third party data just to turn off a purposefully annoying "news" feature?!

 

 

nothing seems to be done for "security reasons" but to collect as much data from you as possible...

 

 

 

[vertigo220]

In my experience and opinion, Bing isn't garbage, but it's way behind Google in producing good results. It's also what DDG uses, and many people use that as an alternative to Google, myself included somewhat. I'll use DDG (and therefore Bing) when I don't necessarily care about specific results and I'm likely to get good enough results from it or if I want uncensored results. I use Google when I need quality results or am looking for something very specific. It's just so much better, which is unfortunate.

 

On 1/4/2023 at 8:52 AM, Mark Kaine said:

seems like they're going out of their way to show me *not* relevant things to my search term... eating? where did i say eating?  does google think im fat? (actually that seems to be a reoccurring thing for google search, they definitely try to make you feel bad -- or maybe google just hates me lol)

Actually, they're showing very relevant results. You're searching for binging, and it's showing appropriate results. It's Bing search and binge eating/watching, not binge search.

 

On 1/5/2023 at 2:24 PM, GhostRoadieBL said:

this brings up a whole genre of anti-compete and anti-monopoly issues. How many people will go to websites when the basic information answer is provided, even if incorrect, as the first search answer? This stands firmly against the whole purpose of the internet being many sources and many diverse websites from passionate individuals and groups.

if I type in "what's today's important news?" and ChatGPT spits out a generalized answer which may or may not be correct, It's basically bypassing the use of search algorithms (however flawed they are and easily manipulated by bad actors). It's a fun tool to use for basic queries but when it comes to any form of query, how helpless will people become when an answer is just handed to them without even having to look at an original article or reading more than a paragraph? This happened when Google disrupted the internet with easy searching of "every page on the internet" (now look at the corrupted dystopia it is today) I think we're heading down the same path but worse because it's MICROSOFT! One of the worst consumer faced companies on the planet.

I think it's actually in their best interest to show you results that you want to click as opposed to just showing you something right there. That way, the websites see that they're getting traffic from Bing instead of Google and so they'll eventually shift toward focusing on Bing SEO. Though Google does do stuff that gives answers in the search results so you often don't have to click through, but I think they can do that and it works for them because they're already dominant.

On 1/5/2023 at 10:24 PM, Mark Kaine said:

agreed... i have nothing against "chatGTP" as a concept at all... what i don't like is it seems to exist for one purpose and one purpose only, to make money. Of course its "free" at first,  thats how they pretty much all started and also how drug dealers operate,  "free" always works as an entry point,  but thats not really the issue,  its the service itself and how its marketed,  and ultimately how awful it really is. sure its also fun and it does a good job mimicking a conversation  -- but thats an entirely different thing than being able to understand or being knowledgeable,  which neither of which "chatGTP" is capable of *obviously* (it's not programmed like that, but seemingly very much marketed like that in my impression) 

Most things exist for the sole purpose of making money. That's not really the issue; the problem is how far they take it, i.e. how greedy they get.

[GhostRoadieBL]

27 minutes ago, vertigo220 said:

opposed to just showing you something right there. That way, the websites see that they're getting traffic from Bing instead of Google and so they'll eventually shift toward focusing on Bing SEO.

It's going to come down to ads and how bing will display results. I can see Microsoft pushing a chatgpt result to the top of the page just below a row of ads, then have sponsored results from paying sites and second page actual results from non-paying sites.

Microsoft gets the ad views, user gets the quick answer without having to scroll into the sponsored results, sponsored results still get first page views if chatgpt can't answer the query and the rest of the internet who aren't willing to line Microsoft's pockets get second page results like they do on google.

 

It's the fact monitized results are even a thing and advertising before showing search results on a 'search engine' doesn't seem to openly defy the whole purpose of search algorithms.

 

If it was a non-profit or duckduckgo or anything but a hyper-anti-consumer company that announced they were going to bring chatgpt to the masses, I'd be all for it. Currently, probably because of Microsoft, chatgpt is looking at monitizing the chatgpt algorithm. Which clearly defeats any chance a non-profit or consumer first company has any chance against the money printing 'ads first, results if we feel like it' search engines.

[vertigo220]

2 minutes ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

It's going to come down to ads and how bing will display results. I can see Microsoft pushing a chatgpt result to the top of the page just below a row of ads, then have sponsored results from paying sites and second page actual results from non-paying sites.

Microsoft gets the ad views, user gets the quick answer without having to scroll into the sponsored results, sponsored results still get first page views if chatgpt can't answer the query and the rest of the internet who aren't willing to line Microsoft's pockets get second page results like they do on google.

 

It's the fact monitized results are even a thing and advertising before showing search results on a 'search engine' doesn't seem to openly defy the whole purpose of search algorithms.

 

If it was a non-profit or duckduckgo or anything but a hyper-anti-consumer company that announced they were going to bring chatgpt to the masses, I'd be all for it. Currently, probably because of Microsoft, chatgpt is looking at monitizing the chatgpt algorithm. Which clearly defeats any chance a non-profit or consumer first company has any chance against the money printing 'ads first, results if we feel like it' search engines.

Another possibility is that such technology will make it possible for an open-source search engine to compete with Google and Bing and possibly make them totally irrelevant. Or if not a full-blown search engine, at least a third-party API that could use the results from those and present them in a more useful and user-centric manner, like Searx.

[05032-Mendicant-Bias]

On 1/4/2023 at 1:42 PM, suicidalfranco said:

would have made more sense to set it as a replacement to Cortana, and as an assistant within office.

 

Source: Stonetoss