Microsoft has been a key player in the world of AI and recently made waves with the introduction of Copilot, a chatbot that rivals ChatGPT. Now, the tech giant is turning its focus back to its roots with the Bing search engine. On a recent Wednesday, Microsoft revealed a new generative search experience that blends the conversational capabilities of generative AI with the traditional search results page that users are familiar with.
This new feature aims to provide users with a more interactive and engaging search experience. For example, when a user asks a question like “What is Spaghetti Western?” Bing will offer a conversational response along with links to relevant sites. On the right side of the screen, users can still access the traditional search results and scroll through them as usual.
The updated Bing search experience is designed to address user feedback and improve the overall user experience. By combining the power of LLMs and SLMs with Bing’s search results, Microsoft hopes to create a more efficient layout that is both informative and user-friendly.
One of the key improvements with this update is the modification of the UX layout to better meet the needs of users. This change is in response to complaints about the AI summaries at the top of Google search results, which often require users to scroll extensively to find the information they are looking for.
Microsoft has also made efforts to refine its AI models to enhance accuracy within the Bing search experience. Additionally, the company is actively seeking feedback from users to continue improving the overall search experience. Concerns about the impact of AI conversational responses on website traffic have been addressed, with early data showing that the new search experience maintains the same level of clicks to external websites.
In a competitive move, Microsoft launched its generative search experience ahead of OpenAI’s SearchGPT. While both services offer a similar UX layout that combines traditional search results with AI-generated responses, Bing’s feature is gradually being rolled out to users, while OpenAI’s offering is currently available through a waitlist.
Overall, Microsoft’s latest updates to the Bing search engine demonstrate the company’s commitment to innovation and improving the search experience for users. By integrating generative AI capabilities with traditional search results, Microsoft is paving the way for a more interactive and efficient search experience that meets the needs of modern users.
