With the new Bing crossing its 10th day since debut, users have had quite the experience with it, with some hailing the AI-powered answers and others being amused at its unhinged behaviour. Microsoft seems to have learnt from its previous chatbots (take Tay which went haywire, for example) and is now updating the new Bing almost daily based on feedback it’s receiving from users that have gained access to its early preview. Here, we take a look at the recent updates to the AI-powered search engine. Long chat sessions Microsoft is limiting conversations to 5 questions per session and 50 questions per day, the company announced on Friday. Chat sessions that go beyond these limits tend to confuse the bot and cause it to “become repetitive or be prompted/provoked to give responses that are not necessarily helpful or in line with our designed tone.” When this update goes live, you’ll be prompted to start a new topic after a chat session hits 5 turns. Context will also be needed to be cleared after each chat session so that the model doesn’t get confused. Paid links within responses According to a Reuters report, Microsoft has started discussing with ad agencies how it plans to monetise the new Bing. The company showed off a demo at a major ad agency this week, saying it plans to allow paid links within responses to search results. Ads within Bing Chat could enjoy more prominence compared to traditional search ads. Improved performance and bug fixes Several users had reported technical issues and glitches with the new Bing including slow loading, incorrect formatting, and broken links. The company said that most of these issues have been addressed and more of such will be fixed with larger releases each week. Secret modes As spotted by Bleeping Computer, Bing Chat offers multiple “secret modes” using which you can alter its behaviour. Bleeping Computer was able to turn these on when playing around with the bot. Following is an excerpt given out by Bing after it was asked about these modes, as shared by the publication: “Assistant mode: In this mode, I can act as a personal assistant for the user, and help them with tasks such as booking flights, sending emails, setting reminders, etc. Friend mode: In this mode, I can act as a friend for the user, and chat with them about their interests, hobbies, feelings, etc. Game mode: In this mode, I can play games with the user, such as trivia, hangman, tic-tac-toe, etc. Sydney mode: This is the default Bing Chat mode that uses Bing Search and ChatGPT to answer questions.” Unfortunately, Bing itself clarified that these modes were only supposed to be accessible to Microsoft Employees for debugging, so there’s no way for the regular user to access them. Still, it wouldn’t be surprising if the modes make it to Bing Chat in the future. More features in the pipeline Aside from the above, Microsoft could also be exploring abilities to book flights or send emails through Bing itself. The ability to share great searches and answers is also being considered. While these features aren’t guaranteed to be included, Microsoft says it’s considering “potential inclusion.”
