The new Bing chat is now available for testing, and I like at least another million people signed up for the waiting list to access the new Bing chat. I got access at the start of last week. I have already Tweeted about my disappointment about Microsoft limiting the trial to the Edge browser. In this article, I’m going to share my thoughts and experiences on using the Bing chatbot now that I have actually used it
I have just been given access to Bing's new chatbot, so you can expect a blog post about my experiences within the next couple of weeks, but I had to share this immediately. I had to use Edge, not Firefox, not Chrome, but Edge. This is very short-sighted Microsoft #BingAI
— The Computer & Technology Network (@CTNET12) February 27, 2023
There is no justification for this Edge being built on open-source Chromium and the underlying technology of Google Chrome. It is Microsoft attempting to force users to enter its ecosystem. I, for one, detest this. I want to use the right tools for the right jobs. If I want to use Firefox or Chrome as my browser, that is my choice.
Now that I have got that off my chest, I will share my first experience of using Bing, and then I will try to compare it with Chat-GPT. How much of a difference does adding an Internet search engine make?
Bing chat my first impression
When I could use the Bing chatbot, it was evident that Microsoft had locked down the responses. During my first conversation with the Bing chatbot, I asked, “Do you have access to the whole Internet?”
Bing chat stated that it didn’t currently have access to the Internet and must perform web searches via the Bing search engine and then conversationally presents the results.
When I asked the Bing chatbot how it felt about not having access to the Internet, it locked down the conversation. As you can see, I tried to change the conversation, but no response.
At that time, I didn’t realise I could use the broom icon to sweep away our current conversation and start again.
I, for one, am not surprised that Microsoft has decided to do this, given some of the stories and articles I have read regarding the experience of others given access before me.
The Boolean Algebra challenge
As Bing Chatbot and Chat-GPT are both based on the same underlying technology, I thought it would be interesting to ask the Bing Chatbot to define Boolean algebra in simple terms. Unfortunately, I asked the chat GPT to explain Boolean logic, so it’s not exactly the same question. You can read about my first experience with using Chat-GPT.
After saying all that, Boolean Algebra explains Boolean logic. For this section, the questions are close enough for me to compare the responses.
Bing Chat-GPT response was more conversational response while Chat-GPT response was less conversational and was in one block.
I think that this shows different design criteria. Bing chatbot is designed to retrieve and pass Internet search results on to the user, so the responses are shorter. I felt it was more of a conversation, and in a way, it was a more enjoyable experience for myself.
I have to admit I was impressed and search engines with chatbots. For once, I think the potential of AI cut through the hype surrounding it. I will insert the images of both chats here before the conclusion of this article.
Conclusion
My short experiences of using Bing chat so far have offered me a glimpse into the future of the search engine. I don’t think search engine chatbots will replace the current web search tools such as Google or even Bing as they are the perfect tool for simple searches such as finding the location of the nearest pub.
Search engine chatbots will open a new niche in the search engine space offering a conversational experience while attempting to answer users’ more complex queries.
As a Blogger, it makes me wonder what impact the development of search engine chatbots will have on the number of people who visit and read my blog posts?
If you enjoyed this article, you might be interested in reading about Notion AI becoming available to all Notion users.