Grant Lewis is an Software Engineer with ThreeWill. Grant’s consulting experience consists of using Microsoft technologies to enhance business operations in a manufacturing environment.
Since the release of ChatGPT last year, there has been tremendous excitement around the potential of AI. Microsoft has been one of the companies leading the charge into this space and they have made it clear that AI will be a big part of their product offerings going forward. Looking to take advantage of the massive investment that Microsoft made in ChatGPT’s owners, OpenAI, Microsoft is quickly adding AI integrations, dubbed Copilot, into their applications with the goal of attempting to provide efficiency improvements.
Unfortunately, many of these tools are not available yet or require an opt-in preview mode and may not be easily accessible to the average worker. There is one notable exception to this: Bing Chat.
What is Bing Chat?
For many years, Bing has been considered an also-ran to the powerhouse that is Google Search. However, Microsoft is looking to change that narrative by integrating the power of OpenAI’s ChatGPT into the search engine itself.
Today, when you arrive on the Bing homepage you are greeted with a text prompt. While this may appear to be an ordinary search box, it is also an interface to initiate a conversation with Bing Chat. When you search on Bing, an AI-generated response will appear above the list of text results.
From here, you can continue the conversation to open Bing Chat. Alternatively, on the Bing homepage, you can click the “Chat” option at the top.
Microsoft has also built Bing Chat into the Edge browser. If you are an Edge user, Bing Chat will be the most easily accessible AI option possible. To access Bing Chat, click the Bing icon in the top right.
Isn’t Bing Chat just ChatGPT?
Yes and no. While Bing Chat does use ChatGPT under the surface, there are a few things that differentiate it.
- Bing Chat uses the newer and more advanced GPT-4 model, while Chat-GPT uses GPT-3.5 unless you opt to pay for GPT-4
- Bing Chat can search the web and give up-to-date information. Chat-GPT’s training set ends in 2021
- Bing Chat provides references for the information that it provides. While both models are susceptible to “hallucinations”, having references makes double-checking the information that Bing Chat provides a little easier.
What can I do with Bing Chat?
While the most obvious thing to do with Bing Chat is search the web for answers or information, it is also a potentially powerful tool for many other things that generative AI has been proven useful for.
Take the mind out of mindless tasks
For many workers, some portions of their work are mindless, repetitive tasks. These tasks can be some of the most frustrating and soul-sucking tasks that prevent employees from truly thriving. Why not enlist Bing Chat to do it for you?
Some examples of these tasks could include:
- Reading and summarizing a document or email
- Pulling information from one source and formatting it in another
- Generating test data or example data
The success of this approach will vary based on the task, but it is worth a shot.
Find that spark
We’ve all experienced that moment where that spark of inspiration just won’t come. We sit in front of a blank page and just wait for the muse to speak. Or we have some type of problem that we just can’t seem to solve. Sometimes, the only way to get unstuck is to talk it out, but that is often an inconvenience for the person on the other end of the conversation. How about making Bing Chat your conversational counterpart?
Some things that Bing Chat could help you work through could include:
- Ideas for products, presentations, or even blog posts
- The right wording for a message or idea
Get an editor
Anyone serious about writing knows the importance of a good editor. They can be ruthless, and the finished product is often better for it. However, the editing process can be costly and time-consuming. Luckily, Bing Chat can help.
- Ask for a word that conveys a certain idea or feeling
- Look for ways to be more concise or effective in communicating
Generate an image
Bing Chat integrates with DALL-E to create images. Simply describe the image you would like, and Bing Chat will attempt to generate it for you.
Conclusion
Bing Chat is one of the most accessible AI tools available. It is worth the time to investigate and see if it can find a place in your everyday workflow.
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