We’ve heard a lot of rumors that the innovative AI tool ChatGPT will be included in the Microsoft Bing search engine in the near future, and now we have a leaked preview of how this integration might actually work and look like in your browser.
Student and designer Owen Yin (opens in a new tab) (By Edge (opens in a new tab)) somehow got access to the upcoming update and was able to test it for a while before it was disabled. If you’ve used ChatGPT before, the interface will be familiar: the screen will prompt you to request information or assistance on any matter.
Apparently you have 1000 characters at your disposal. One example shown in Yin’s screenshots is searching for arts and crafts ideas for your toddler using specific materials – this is the type of query where ChatGPT excels and for which you may not necessarily get very helpful results via Google.
Bing with added ChatGPT will also tell you where it got its information from: below the answers you’ll see a list of sources, a bit like Wikipedia. This means you can check what ChatGPT says about accuracy, at least to some extent.
Bing ChatGPT integration just popped up for me. Replaces the search bar with a natural language question composer pic.twitter.com/NxZ0k9O92CFebruary 3, 2023
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According to this leak, conventional search results will not disappear completely. These will be available on a separate screen, and you can use the toolbar at the top to toggle between the old-fashioned list of blue links and the future of search.
And it really does seem like the standard way of searching is a bit old-fashioned now – which is no doubt one of the reasons why Google is about to reveal its own version of this technology in the coming days. If you’ve done a traditional internet search recently, you know that the results you get aren’t always that useful.
A more conversational approach, such as that offered by ChatGPT, offers much more precision and customization. For example, you can use an AI engine to write a wedding speech or plan a car trip yourself, fine-tuning the results using natural language, instead of just searching for speech ideas or travel itineraries online.
Reportedly, Microsoft is also looking to add ChatGPT features to its Office suite, helping you write letters, create PowerPoint slides, and write emails. In the near future, we will all rely on AI to a much greater extent.