Microsoft enhances Bing search engine with artificial intelligence
Bing enhanced with artificial intelligence
The way you search for things on the internet is changing in a major way as Microsoft is reinventing the way its search engine works by using artificial intelligence. FOX 26 Consumer Reporter Heather Sullivan explains more on what this means for your internet searches.
HOUSTON - The way you search for things on the internet is about to change in a major way. Microsoft says its search engine Bing is now enhanced with artificial intelligence.
We asked Akouto computer engineer Dominc Chorafakis to explain how it works.
"This is going to be a game-changer. It is as big as an event as the web browser itself," he said.
Chorafakis says that means internet searches will go from simply matching keywords, to accepting more conversational questions.
RELATED: Heard of ChatGPT? Google just unveiled Bard, a rival to the popular AI chatbot
"You can ask for something the same way you would speak to a person, the same natural word processing," explained Chorafakis.
And with artificial intelligence, Bing will provide more 'thoughtful' answers.
"The information it’s able to find is a lot more relevant to what you're looking for, because it actually understands what you’re looking for," Chorafakis says.
Created with OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, which can write articles and essays, Microsoft says Bing has a new chat window that can help with creating shopping lists, advice, travel suggestions, and even writing a poem.
"I would search, 'Give me a suggestion for a meal for my wedding anniversary.' In the past, I would get a list of cooking websites with recipes. Now the search engine will respond and provide me with actual suggestions," explained Chorafakis.
"And I could refine that and say, 'My wife doesn’t like lamb, what would you suggest?' And again it would come up with suggestions," he added.
MORE: AI detection tool launched by ChatGPT makers OpenAI amid school cheating fears
We looked at a sample question on Bing on how to choose a pet. It offered things for us to consider.
But Microsoft warns the results are sometimes incorrect.
"Use your best judgment. Take everything you read on the internet with a grain of salt. Even if it’s coming from an AI, especially if it's coming from an AI, and make sure we reference authoritative sources when making decisions," suggested Chorafakis.
Microsoft plans to release the new Bing to millions of users in the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can explore sample questions and sign up to be on a waitlist to try it out.
This move is aimed at making Bing more competitive with Google, which dominates the search engine market. Google announced its own AI chatbot, Bard, on Monday.