What if the looming AI battle gives rise to a big reset on the Web ? This is the hope of Microsoft, which unveiled, on Tuesday, an overhaul of its Bing search engine integrating a new version of the ChatGPT conversational robot from the OpenAI start-up. Which allows Bing to generate precise answers, and more accurate links, but also to summarize long reports or write a LinkedIn post on its own. A frontal challenge to the monopoly of Google, which has just announced the test launch of its “Bard” chatbot, with AI functions which should soon be integrated into its search engine. “The race starts today,” said Microsoft boss Satya Nadella from his Redmond HQ.
To access the new Bing, you must register on a waiting list, and download the Microsoft Edge browser, which also benefits from a facelift. Microsoft promises wider access over the next few weeks. And eventually to other browsers.
ChatGPT “next gen”
Sam Altman, the co-founder of OpenAI, who rocked Silicon Valley with his chatbot ChatGPT, was on stage. He did not confirm that the new version, GPT-4, was hiding under the hood of Bing, simply speaking of a “next gen”. The main difference is that the bot now has access to the web, for up-to-date responses, like “Give me the list of Sunday’s top Grammy winners.” And the results, unlike OpenAI’s ChatGPT, are sourced and annotated.
Bing offers a window on the right dedicated to the intelligent assistant, in addition to the classic results. A new “Chat” tab allows you to chat with the robot. Who is able to make comparisons between the best vacuum cleaners, with strengths and weaknesses, to suggest a menu based on ingredients from the fridge, to plan a vacation in Mexico. But also to summarize a 15-page article or write a Linkedin post: the user chooses the tone (corporate, enthusiastic, etc.) and just has to play the editors.
All these functions could save a lot of time. There remains a problem: if the search engines offer detailed answers, Internet users risk no longer going to the sites whose content is digested, even if a link is present in the footnote. Microsoft has not clarified whether it plans to share revenue with publishers.
“Extraordinary Toy”
He is a “co-pilot” but the Internet user remains in control, underlined Yusuf Mehdi, a vice-president of the Redmond group (northwest of the United States), during a press conference whose theme had been kept secret until the last minute.
The inventor of Windows invested $1 billion in OpenAI in 2019 and has just struck a new multi-billion deal with the Californian startup founded in 2015. Advances in OpenAI have put Microsoft back in the innovation race on line.
Last December, Google held about 84% of the online search market, compared to 9% for Bing, according to Statista. In one year, the Microsoft engine has nibbled 2% from the sector giant.
“There needs to be innovation in online research because this technology is so important to humanity. And so you need competition,” Jordi Ribas, vice-president of Microsoft, who has worked on Bing for 15 years, told AFP. “That’s why I never got discouraged.”
His team worked tirelessly to find the right balance, knowing that ChatGPT is also notorious for its sometimes completely wrong answers, given with great aplomb. “It’s an amazing toy, but it’s still a bit of a toy. The question was how to turn it into a tool that does not hallucinate (…) and that helps to accomplish tasks in minutes that used to take hours,” he explained.