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What just happened? At its Google I/O 2024 developer conference in May, the Mountain View behemoth announced it is adding AI-powered overviews to its search results. In response, Microsoft has started rolling out its “Bing generative search” feature, which collects information from around the web and generates a summary in response to search queries.
As an example of how the new search experience will work, Microsoft said that if a user searches “What is a spaghetti western?,” Bing generative search will display an AI-generated overview of the film subgenre, including its history and origins. The new experience will also show top examples of spaghetti western movies, as well as links to the sources of the information.
Describing the new feature as an important step in improving serach on Bing, Microsoft said it needs feedback from users to refine the experience going forward. To that end, each card in the AI-generated section includes thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons for users to indicate whether the links and summaries provided are useful and accurate. There’s also a Feedback icon at the bottom of the search page for users to offer additional comments.
Microsoft also aimed to assuage fears from publishers that AI-generated overviews could reduce traffic to their websites. According to the company, early data indicates that people are still clicking on links to check out original articles, and traffic to the linked websites from Bing generative search is comparable to traffic from traditional search results. In any case, regular search results are “prominently displayed” on the page as always, Microsoft noted.
Redmond claims that AI-powered search results can more effectively address users’ queries than traditional search results, but prior experiences suggest otherwise. Much has been said and written about the deeply flawed results offered by Google’s AI Overviews, which advised people to eat rocks and put glue on pizza. Users will be hoping that Bing’s AI-powered search results are ready for prime time and won’t hallucinate like its competitor.
Microsoft says that Bing generative search “combines the power of LLMs and SLMs with Bing’s search results to generate a more delightful and efficient UX layout.” The company, however, did not specify which models it is using for the new experience. Either way, it is currently being piloted with a small number of users, but Microsoft plans to roll it out to a wider audience in the future.
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