When Bing makes believe in an AI response… to discourage Chrome downloads

By asking Microsoft Edge for a link to Google Chrome, a user had a funny experience.

Bing, Microsoft’s search engine now under AI, has deliberately highlighted its own qualities in order to discourage switching to the competition.

Microsoft shenanigans, again and again

This is not new, Microsoft does not hesitate to highlight its in-house software, sometimes (often?) using more than questionable means. So if a search for Google Chrome on Edge brings up a message on the screen that says ” there is no need to download a new web browser Microsoft seems to have recently tried a new strategy with Bing.

Indeed, it has been a few weeks now that the search engine signed Microsoft is doped with AI, which allows users to dialogue with the chatbot. However, by simply typing “chrome” into the search bar, Sean Hollister (for The Verge) was able to discover a false message from the AI ​​integrated into Bing inviting him to discover all the qualities… of Bing.

An advertisement disguised as an AI response

By testing the operation on different computers and mobiles, the latter was able to see that the message was always the same, and that it was therefore not generated by ChatGPT 4. This is a fully automated response “, explains Sean Hollister, and not from any generative AI…

The maneuver was reproduced at various terminals in the United States, but also abroad. It would seem that the latter is not universal, but it is not a small-scale experimentation either. For Microsoft, it would thus be a question of affording an imposing advertising insert, under cover of a (false) interaction with an AI.

Quickly, the drafting of The Verge asked for an explanation from Microsoft, which indicated “ often experiment with new features, with tests that are often brief and do not necessarily represent what is provided to users “. Still, the experience set up by the firm has been withdrawn and is no longer relevant. Until the next experiment?

Source : The Verge