The launch of ChatGPT spawned — or rather launched — several similar projects. Google’s Bard came out (and immediately screwed up). Microsoft launched its AI-powered Bing browser, which seems to be a little more stable. Financially, anyway. Psychologically, it appears to have issues.
The company has some plans ahead for the internet browser. Setting limits, a good tactic for anyone battling mentally, is one of them but there’s also a little monetisation in the works. There always is.
Taking a time-out
One of the first things Microsoft is doing with its AI system is giving it a little space. In addition to fixing technical issues that arose as a result of its first foray onto the internet, Bing Chat will see chats stripped back to shorter times. It’ll also be easier to reset search parameters so the AI doesn’t get confused. Eventually, anyway.
“Very long chat sessions can confuse the model on what questions it is answering and thus we think we may need to add a tool so you can more easily refresh the context or start from scratch,” said the company. Until that happens, though, chats are being time-limited. This should immediately prevent it from coming across as slightly (or entirely) deranged. Still, the internet loves a challenge. Someone’s bound to start speedrunning driving Microsoft’s bot to madness.
Making Microsoft money
The other change Microsoft has in mind for its Bing AI system shouldn’t be a surprise. The company intends to start using it to serve ads to users because we can’t have anything fun anymore without capitalism wanting a slice. Reuters reports that the company intends to offer paid links in responses.
This information comes via an anonymous ad executive that met with Microsoft to learn about how the chatbot worked. Interest in interacting with the bot is expected to generate more eyeballs for advertisers to claim. It’s already considering repurposing its traditional advertising in Bing Chat replies but there’s also chat-specific advertising planned. What form those ads might eventually take isn’t certain but the company is certainly pitching the concept to companies.
