The new Bing can be used immediately by anyone who signs in with a Microsoft account. Initially, this was only via a waiting list, but now the search is immediately accessible as an open preview. Nevertheless, Bing is in a test phase, Microsoft likes to emphasize this when it comes to errors or hallucinations of the AI functions. The latter will be expanded.
The previous text search is becoming more visual, the blog post says. What is meant is that Bing should soon be able to give image and video answers and create diagrams and graphics. However, a new multimodality will only be available shortly. Accordingly, it also remains unclear what this should look like in concrete terms: For example, whether there is also a tab for images in addition to the different styles in which Bing can reply, or whether Bing automatically displays images in the chat history. The search engine already contains an image generator, which is a version of OpenAI’s Dall-E. This does not have to be called up separately. What is new is that the image generator is now available in more than 100 languages.
Instead of using text input, it should soon be possible to search for suitable content using an image. Of course, Google Lens can already do that. There, for example, photos of floor tiles can be uploaded and the corresponding shopping results can be searched for.
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The co-pilot should also be able to visualize data in Microsoft Excel. There is a plugin for ChatGPT called Code Interpreter, which also helps with data analysis and display, among other things. At the same time, the extension, which so far can only be used by a few people in an alpha version, can merge code from different sources and solve mathematical tasks.
Save chats and actions for Bing and Edge
Chats in Edge can be saved and shared in the future. This allows you to return to a conversation at a later point in time and continue it. The conversations are listed in a sidebar. Microsoft also writes the somewhat vague but tendentially ominous-sounding phrase: “Over time, we try to personalize your chats by incorporating context from previous chats into new conversations.” There will be a share and export function, for example for social media.
Bing and Edge are opening up for developers. Both are becoming a platform where, according to Microsoft, “you can do even more tasks in fewer steps with the help of AI”. “Actions in Bing and Edge” should also be available in the coming weeks. Just as there are already ChatGPT plugins, third-party apps are set to move in. Microsoft cites Open Table, which books tables in restaurants, and Wolfram Alpha, a science app, as examples.
(emw)
