Mastering Bing's Conversational Assistant: The Ultimate Guide to Navigating Microsoft’s Innovative AI Chat Feature

Mastering Bing’s Conversational Assistant: The Ultimate Guide to Navigating Microsoft’s Innovative AI Chat Feature

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Key Takeaways

To use Microsoft’s new Bing Chat AI:

Visit bing.com with the Microsoft Edge web browser.
Sign in with your Microsoft account.
Click “Chat” at the top of the page.
Choose a conversation style and type your prompt.

iPhone and Android users can download the Bing app and access the chatbot from there.

The AI chatbot space is starting to really heat up. Microsoft has its own version of ChatGPT -–called the “new Bing” or “Bing Chat”—and it might be even better. Let’s take a closer look at Microsoft’s favorite new toy.

What Is Bing AI Chat?

Bing Chat—also referred to as “New Bing”—is an integration of ChatGPT with Microsoft’s search engine. Similar to how Samsung has its own flavor of Android, Bing Chat is essentially Microsoft’s flavor of ChatGPT.

To understand Bing Chat, you must understand ChatGPT . They are AI chatbots built on OpenAI’s large language models (LLMs). Essentially, the chatbot is fed an enormous amount of text data for “training.” It uses that data to predict what the next word in a sentence should be. The goal is to get it to a point where it can generate human-like responses to prompts.

The big difference between Bing Chat and ChatGPT is how Microsoft has customized it. Bing Chat is tuned for search, and it’s clear about that when you use it. Bing shows you what it’s searching for, and it lists sources for everything. Also, Bing is using OpenAI’s latest LLM, GPT-4 , while ChatGPT has GPT-4 locked behind the paid “Plus” subscription .

How to Chat With Bing AI

To use Bing AI Chat, you can simply go to bing.com in Microsoft Edge and select the “Chat” tab. Check out our guide if you want to use Bing Chat in Google Chrome . We’ll demonstrate how to use it on the desktop here, but it also works on iPhone and Android (as shown in the section below).

First, make sure you’re signed into your navigate to bing.com in Microsoft Edge and make sure you’re signed in with your account. Click the “Chat” shortcut in the top menu.

You’re now looking at a page with a text box at the bottom. Before you start chatting, pick one of Bing’s three conversation styles:

More Creative: Longer, more descriptive, and “imaginative” answers.
More Precise: Shorter, straightforward search-focused answers.
More Balanced: Informative and friendly, somewhere between the other styles.

With a conversation style chosen, type a prompt in the text box and hit enter.

Before Bing starts answering, you can see what’s happening in the background.

Bing “types” the answer in real time. When it’s done, the sources are shown at the bottom of the text bubble.

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Now you can use one of the suggested follow-up prompts, or continue the conversation with the text box. Bing will remember the context of the conversation.

At the time of writing, Microsoft has limited conversations to 20 prompts, as indicated in the corner of each text bubble.

Mouse-over an answer to give it a thumbs up, thumbs down, share it, or copy the answer.

When you’re ready to start a fresh conversation, click the “New Topic” broom button next to the text box.

You’re well on your way, so go ahead and play around with it. Here are some awesome Bing Chat features to try out . If you don’t want to visit the Bing website every time, the AI chat can also be accessed from the Edge sidebar -–unless you’re annoyed with it .

How to Use Bing Chat on iPhone and Android

The AI chatbot feature can be easily accessed on iPhone and Android with the Bing app. First, download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store .

Open the app and tap “Get Started” if prompted to try the “New Bing.”

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Next, tap “Sign In and Join” to continue. You may already be signed in from using other Microsoft apps.

To start chatting with Bing AI, tap the speech bubble icon in the center of the bottom bar.

You’ll be asked to allow Bing to access your location. This is used to location-based questions and answers. You can turn off “Precise” location (iPhone , Android ) or not grant permission at all.

The first thing to do is pick one of Bing’s three conversation styles:

More Creative: Longer, more descriptive, and “imaginative” answers.
More Precise: Shorter, straightforward search-focused answers.
More Balanced: Informative and friendly, somewhere between the other styles.

Now you can tap the microphone icon to say your prompt out loud—and hear the answer out loud. Tap the keyboard icon to type your prompt.

Bing Chat shows you what it’s doing before it generates the answer.

The answer is “typed” out in real-time, and the sources are shown at the bottom of the text bubble when it’s done.

To continue the conversation, tap one of the suggested follow-up prompts, or use the mic or text box again. Bing will remember the context of the conversation.

At the time of writing, Microsoft has limited conversations to 20 prompts, as indicated in the corner of each text bubble.

Tap the answer to give it a thumbs up, thumbs down, share it, or copy the answer.

When you’re ready to start a fresh conversation, click the broom button next to the text box.

That’s all there is to it! Bing Chat on a smartphone feels a little more like an actual virtual assistant, and it can do some things Siri and Google Assistant can’t .

How to Use Bing Chat in Windows 11

Bing Chat is somewhat integrated into the Windows 11 Start Menu and Search feature—it appears when you start doing a search. However, at the time of writing, it’s really just a shortcut to the web version of Bing Chat shown in the section above.

First, open the Start Menu or click the search icon/box in the taskbar.

If you go the search route, you’ll see the Bing Chat button immediately on the right side of the menu. From the Start Menu, you’ll need to start typing first. Click the button to go to the Bing Chat website.

Alternatively, you can start your prompt in the Start Menu/search by typing it out, then click the "Chat" button on the left side of the menu. This will take you to the Bing Chat website with the prompt already submitted.

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Now you’re able to use Bing Chat just like you would anywhere else! While it’s a little clunky to still be taken to the browser, this is a nice little shortcut for Windows users.

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How to Access Bing Chat

Microsoft launched the new Bing Chat feature with a waitlist, but that waitlist has seemingly been removed . Since March 16, 2023, most people are now able to sign up and immediately get access. Microsoft did not confirm if it removed the waitlist.

To get access to Bing Chat, head over to bing.com/new in the Microsoft Edge browser. Click “Join the Waitlist.”

After signing in and following the steps, you’ll get an email that says you’re on the waitlist.

When you have access to Bing, you’ll get another email that says “You’re in!”

Microsoft is opening up the new Bing Chat to more people as time goes on. You probably won’t need to wait long—if at all—to start using it.

Frequently Asked Questions

When was the new Bing Chat released?

Microsoft announced the new Bing -–including the AI chatbot—on February 7th, 2023. It immediately opened a waitlist for sign-ups and slowly started granting access. In March 2023, the Bing Chat preview was opened up to a wider audience.

Does Bing use ChatGPT?

Yes, Bing AI chat has the same backbone as ChatGPT. At the original announcement for the new Bing, Microsoft said the AI chatbot ran on a “next generation” OpenAI (the creator of ChatGPT) large language model. They said it’s “more powerful than ChatGPT and customized specifically for search.”

Later, it was revealed that Bing Chat is based on GPT-4, the latest large language model from OpenAI at the time. Meanwhile, ChatGPT was originally built on GPT-3.5, and GPT-4 is held behind the “Plus” subscription.

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Is Bing better than ChatGPT?

Bing AI Chat is not better or worse than ChatGPT, but it’s clearly a different experience. Bing is based on a newer large language model, GPT-4, and is tuned more for search. Bing shows what it’s searching for and provides sources—ChatGPT does not. Bing is also capable of generating images , creating tables, and fun things like text art , whereas ChatGPT is more of a straightforward text-only experience (though plug-ins change that ).

What is Bing AI chatbot’s chat limit?

Microsoft launched Bing Chat without limits, but it has since capped it to 20 prompts per conversation and 200 conversations per day. This came after people were confusing the chatbot with super lengthy conversations.

How long is the Bing Chat waitlist?

At the time of writing in late March 2023, there doesn’t appear to be a waitlist to try the new Bing Chat . Microsoft has not confirmed the waitlist has been removed, simply stating the company may “accelerate access to the new Bing for some users” during the preview period.

That’s the low-down on Bing Chat, New Bing, Bing AI, Bing Chatbot, or whatever you want to call it. Microsoft is leveraging OpenAI’s work on large language models to infuse Bing with many impressive features. It’s already one of the best ChatGPT competitors -–if not better—and Microsoft is in a good position for the competitive AI market.

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