So I finally gave into the latest craze of 2023,. Thanks to the newly available Microsoft Bing Chat update that was released earlier this week, now I can afford to join the millions who already paid $50 or so for the likes of Chat GPT. So far, I haven’t been asked for a penny, so it’s within my meager budget.
I’ve been skeptical. When I’ve asked friends to run searches with the paid model of Chat GPT, my resume has been conflated with those of other people with my name. According to that model, I’m both a doctor in Virginia and a businessman in Denver, as well as who I am. Some days, I’ve wished I was actually one of those others, particularly on pay days of late.
But as Alan Truly of Digital Trends explains, the newly available Microsoft add-on offered a new reason for optimism and experimentation:
Bing Chat originally launched as only a waitlist, but it’s now available widely at bing.com/new and requires downloading the new version of Microsoft Edge. Just click on “Download Microsoft Edge,” which will then ask you to choose the platform you’re on.
The company also recently integrated Bing Chat into the search bar in Windows 11, which opens a chat window in Microsoft Edge directly from your desktop:
Bing Chat works just like ChatGPT. You can ask it anything, and using an LLM (large language model), will understand and respond in natural human language.
But Microsoft has also been slowly rolling out Bing Chat features, and most of them are available to use now. In particular, the Edge Copilot feature, which provides more suggestions and refinements to the Bing Chat experience.
On the chat tab, it focuses on more conversational language, which provides lots of suggestions on the types of questions you can ask. These include links to learn more, suggested follow-up questions, and functions much more like a traditional search engine.
So far, there has been no mention of charging for Bing’s new AI features. Microsoft clarified that ads are part of the experience from the start and that it doesn’t have plans to charge a fee as of yet.
But from what we can tell, there are still limits on conversations. As of now, the daily limit has been increased to 150 chats per day and 15 chats per session. Once you hit 15 chats in a session, Bing Chat will ask you to move on to a new topic. ChatGPT does not have this limit.
So on a day where I’m particularly exhausted like today and the price is right, I put Bing Chat to the test. I asked it to describe how I write. Here’s what it spit out in roughly 15 seconds:
Steven Leblang’s writing style is characterized by his use of personal anecdotes, humor, and engaging tone. He often writes in a conversational way, addressing his readers directly and asking rhetorical questions. He also uses various techniques to make his writing more interesting, such as metaphors, alliterations, and wordplay. He tends to write short sentences and paragraphs, using punctuation and formatting to create emphasis and rhythm. His writing style reflects his personality as a dynamic, high-energy strategist and researcher who has a passion for media and sports. Some examples of his writing style are: