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What you gotta know
Microsoft unveiled anew Bing with ChatGPTduring an event last week.
The search engine made headlines across a range of sites, from tech blogs to general news sites.
Microsoft’s new Bing shared a list of slurs when asked for nicknames of various ethnicities.
Dmitri Breretonshared a blog posthighlighting several mistakes made by Bing.
The search engine showed factual errors in several categories, but perhaps the most significant mistakes were financial errors.
The tool confused financial terms, such as gross margins and adjusted gross margins.
Microsoft’s new Bing shared a list of slurs when asked for nicknames of various ethnicities.
Mistakes like those can escalate quickly.
Bing’s failure to differentiate between different categories can create comparisons that are entirely inaccurate.
Bing did not do so in this case.
Microsoft’s new Bing shared a list of slurs when asked for nicknames of various ethnicities.
It’s not just financial data that Bing got incorrect during its demonstration.
Brereton pointed to the search engine incorrectly stating a vacuum had a cord.
That’s yet another example of an inaccuracy that would render a comparison between items useless.
Bing has also taught people ethnic slurs, asreported by PCWorld.
There are some differences between the situations.
First, Google is the established leader in search.
Bing stated that Patrick Mahomes had won one Super Bowl in the beginning of its answer then later states Mahomes has won two Super Bowls.
Windows Central take
In my own testing, I’ve had mixed results as well.
The very first question I asked the new Bing after gaining access yielded an incorrect response.
In fact, the response wasn’t just wrong, it contradicted itself.
I asked Bing about how Patrick Mahomes did in the Super Bowl.
The response stated that Mahomes had won one Super Bowl and then later claimed he had won two.
The latter is accurate but only became accurate as of Sunday at the conclusion of Super Bowl LVII.
But a search engine needs to use up-to-date information to yield results.
Interest in Bing is at an all-time high.
Google’s Bard rightfully received criticism when it shared an error in an ad.
Every Bing blunder puts the search engine at risk of losing momentum.
Microsoft shouldn’t be immune to criticism just because its technology is exciting.
Yes, the new Bing is in preview.
It will make mistakes and improve over time, but Google took its lumps when Bard made a mistake.
Now it’s Bing’s turn.
