STORY: In one of its biggest efforts yet to lead a new wave of technology and reshape the way people collect information, Microsoft said Tuesday it is revamping its Bing search engine and Edge web browser with a new upgrade powered by artificial intelligence.
Microsoft has announced that it will use technology from its partnership with the startup OpenAI to bring ChatGPT-like technology into the Microsoft search engine… with the goal of flying past its main rival, Google.
Reuters Technology Correspondent, Jeffrey Dastin, was in Redmond, Washington for the announcement.
“The company essentially announced its biggest challenge yet for Google by planning to launch and roll out a search engine and web browser fully infused with AI. So the idea is that Microsoft’s Bing Search Engine and Edge web browser chatbot- like functionality, kind of like the chatbot sensation ChatGPT.”
OpenAI released a preview of ChatGPT for public use late last year. The human-like responses to each prompt have given people new ways to think about the possibilities of marketing, writing thesis, or spreading news.
DASTIN: “The technology known as ChatGPT that many of us have played with, experienced, is itself based on a system that is actually a few years old. And the creator of that technology, OpenAI, has been constantly working to improve it, not just in the version we see online today, but in things that haven’t been released yet. And also in this upcoming Bing search engine, for example. So essentially there’s going to be a more advanced version of that powerful AI in Microsoft’s new search engine. Although one important thing to note is that it still has a lot to learn. It still relies on feedback so that it can provide the consumer with factual and best answers.”
Bing’s chatbot helps users refine queries more easily, provide more relevant, up-to-date results, and even make shopping easier.
“For example, if you want to know if a car seat will fit in the back of your specific vehicle, it will know the information you provide and give you an answer so you don’t have to try different web pages on your own.”
Bing lags far behind Google in search market share. But AI could change the landscape.
“AI is essentially the frontier in search engine technology right now. So Google has been the number one provider for years.
(flash)
“Bing – with Microsoft’s search engine – is trying to change that. And the idea is that if AI can help you answer things that don’t yet exist on the web and create all sorts of new experiences and functionality, like e- compose and translate mail and even shopping list and grocery shopping, then Microsoft hopes it can win, share and compete with Google.
Google unveiled its own chatbot on Monday called Bard… and it plans to release AI for its search engine.
But which AI-powered search engine consumers will prefer in the long run remains to be seen.