New Microsoft Bing & Edge with AI

AI is everywhere now. This is just the beginning...

On February 7th, Microsoft Bing got revamped, upgraded and relaunched - all with AI-powered capabilities from Chat GPT. Alongside Bing, the Edge browser gets new AI-enhanced features with a refined UI look. Both products have integrated artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the user experience. In this article, we will explore the new features, test samples and how they leverage AI to enhance search results.

1. Visual Search

Bing's Visual search is a powerful tool that allows users to search the web using images rather than text. Bing's new visual search feature uses AI to analyze images and provide relevant search results. For example, if you take a photo of a pair of shoes, Bing's AI can identify the brand and style of the shoe and provide links to purchase it online.

2. Intelligent Answers

Bing's AI-powered intelligent answers feature provides quick, accurate answers to commonly asked questions. When users type a question into Bing's search bar, the AI analyzes the question and provides the most relevant answer at the top of the search results. This feature saves users time and effort in searching for answers and helps ensure that the information provided is accurate.

3. Conversational Search

Conversational search is a feature that allows users to ask follow-up questions related to their initial search query. For example, if users search for "best Italian restaurants," they can follow up with a question like "which one is closest to me?" Bing's AI understands the context of the initial query and can provide relevant follow-up answers.

4. Personalized Results

Bing's AI can analyze a user's search history and provide personalized results based on their previous searches. This feature allows Bing to understand a user's interests and provide more relevant search results. Additionally, Bing's AI can analyze a user's location and provide search results that are specific to their local area.

UPDATE: Edge has a built-in VPN too, another feature in the works for Windows 11.

Hands-On Interaction

When the new Bing went live, it was for "desktop limited preview". Most users were eager to test it out, so Microsoft requested users to join the waitlist and get notified via email. When users get notified, they are in and can start using Bing chat features. Alternatively, Windows Insiders can use the new Bing and new Edge by downloading the Edge Beta Version.

I am a Windows Insider who got to test and preview the new Edge with Bing chat features. From the start, Microsoft Edge UI gets a load of UI changes and improvements. Here are a few screenshots to illustrate the differences.

The new Microsoft Bing with AI running on the new Microsoft Edge(Dev).

The old Microsoft Edge.

So, Microsoft Edge has AI-enhanced features namely 'Chat' and 'Compose' embedded within Edge's sidebar. Chat summarizes webpages, documents or any written text one is currently looking at and gets to ask questions about its contents. 'Composed' acts as the writing assistant helping to generate text, from emails to social media posts.

In the Insider Preview version, it has three types of tone responses; Creative, Balanced and Precise. Creative mode is also the Bing Image Creator, in collaboration with Dall-E. Just ask Bing to create a brand new image for you, using only your words like ‘create me an image of’ or ‘draw me an image of’ and complete with your own words. The balanced mode is the default mode that balances both creativity and accuracy in the conversation with Bing. Precise mode is more focused on responses that are factual and concise.

Creative Mode (1)

Creative Mode (2)

Balanced Mode (1)

Balanced Mode (2)

Precise Mode (1)

Precise Mode (2)

Here are a couple of screenshots to see Bing in action. From asking a random bible verse to solving Statistic questions, Bing can impressively handle some accurate results. NOTE: not all results are 100% as per testing.

Had to ask the obvious question.

Bing AI thought these questions were way too personal and set its limits.

Asked for a random bible verse, and it delivered.

Bing even explained the context of the verse. Amazing!!

Bing Chat has some limitations to it. It only ends the conversation when the relevant topic has been understood or completed and asks the user to start/ask about a new topic. Bing makes some mistakes as well, it could give inaccurate results based on the source of information found on the internet.

Bing for Mobile

For those who did not know, Bing has had a mobile app for a while. Bing's new mobile app has been redesigned with a focus on AI-powered features. The app includes visual search, intelligent answers, and conversational search, all of which are optimized for mobile devices. The app also includes a feature called "Quick Answers," which provides answers to commonly asked questions at a glance.

Closing Remarks

Bing's new AI-powered features make it a more powerful and intuitive search engine. Visual search, intelligent answers, conversational search, personalized results, and an enhanced mobile experience are all examples of how Bing is leveraging AI to improve the user experience. As AI continues to evolve, it will be exciting to see how Bing and other search engines will integrate it to enhance search results further.