Microsoft quickly followed through on its pledge to give you more power over the personality of the Bing AI. 90 percent of Bing preview testers should see a toggle that alters the chatbot’s responses, according to Web services chief Mikhail Parakhin. A Creative switch encourages more “original and imaginative” (read: entertaining) responses, whereas a Precise switch places an emphasis on condensed, direct responses. Another option is Balanced, which seeks to find a happy medium.
After early users reported strange behavior during protracted chats and ‘entertainment’ sessions, the company limited the Bing AI’s responses. According to The Verge, some users found the restrictions irritating because the chatbot would occasionally refuse to provide an answer.
Since then, Microsoft has gradually loosened restrictions, and just this week the AI was updated to lessen both responsiveness and “hallucinations.” The bot might not be quite as wonderfully bizarre, but it ought to be more receptive to your inquiries.
As Microsoft opens up access to the Bing AI, the toggle appears. Late in February, it added the technology to Skype and its mobile apps, and a few days ago it made the feature accessible through the Windows 11 taskbar. As more regular users test the system, the flexibility may increase the AI’s usefulness in these more diverse environments and add a level of safety. If you select Creative, you probably already know not to implicitly believe the outcomes.