February 24, 2023, 5:31 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
With the targeted use of artificial intelligence, Microsoft is trying to outpace Google. And since the majority of search queries are made on mobile devices, the company is now increasingly focusing on smartphones.
Microsoft is bringing the AI chatbot of its revamped Bing search engine to the smartphone platforms Android and iOS. The company announced this in a blog post. Additionally, the world’s largest software company plans to equip its Edge browser for smartphones and its video calling software Skype with artificial intelligence features.
Bing Chatbot Delivers Eloquent Answers
Microsoft announced the first steps of its comprehensive AI initiative in collaboration with the startup OpenAI two weeks ago. Microsoft promises that Bing will summarize reliable sources from the web to provide users with a single answer instead of a long list of links.
Similar to the text robot ChatGPT by OpenAI, the Bing chatbot impressed during the testing phase, especially with eloquent answers. However, it also sometimes provided incorrect or fabricated facts. In some cases, the Bing chatbot attracted attention with spontaneous declarations of love and snappy responses. Microsoft then restricted the use of the chat tool for lengthy dialogues, which had proven to be particularly error-prone.
During the testing phase, Microsoft did not fully open access to the new Bing, instead placing many interested parties on a waiting list. However, more than a million people from 169 countries have been welcomed from the waiting list, wrote Microsoft manager Yusuf Mehdi. “We are expanding the preview every day to more people.” Feedback on the new features has been positive: “Seventy-one percent of test participants gave the new Bing a thumbs up for the new search and answer functions.”
Bing Search Queries Can Be Dictated
Bing search queries on smartphones do not need to be typed but can be dictated. At the same time, the new Bing Mobile App can display answers not only as written text but also read them aloud. The new Bing and the Edge browser for mobile phones could “serve as a co-pilot for the internet,” even when not sitting at a desktop computer, Mehdi explained. The AI features in Skype are intended to enhance social communication with friends and family.
With the AI initiative, Microsoft is not only attempting to become more relevant in internet search but also in web browsers. According to calculations by the market research company Statcounter, Google currently holds a share of nearly 93 percent in internet search. Microsoft, with Bing, is at only 3 percent. The situation is similarly poor for browsers. Here, Google Chrome leads with 65.4 percent, followed by Safari (Apple) with 18.7 percent. Microsoft ranks with Edge at a 4.5 percent market share.