Bing! Microsoft not snoozing on ChatGPT opportunity

Who thought we'd be excited about a new Microsoft product in 2023?

Don't throw the past away
You might need it some rainy day
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When everything old is new again

Well, damn! Just when we thought things couldn't get any weirder in the tech industry, Microsoft came through with some wild news this week.

Putting their $13 billion investment in startup OpenAI right to work, today Microsoft announced a new version of the Bing search engine that may be powered by an even newer version of the technology released at the end of November.

You can get on the waitlist for the Bing test release now.

I have to admit, I really thought Google was going to be the company to survive and bring all my Gen X post-apocalyptic sci-fi nightmares into reality. But while Google has been panicking about how Chat GPT will impact their business, Microsoft got to work, and BOOM.

And you may ask yourself, “How is Microsoft approaching responsible AI for the new Bing?”

According to their FAQ on the release, “we have and will continue to partner with OpenAI on foundational model work, we have designed the Bing user experience to keep humans at the center, and we have developed a safety system that is designed to mitigate failures and avoid misuse…”

For the first time in a while, I have hope for the future of human-centered technology.

It has always been a risk that tech companies will make rash decisions that enable biased AI models. But what we're seeing here is an attempt to do the right thing.

In a Microsoft blog post this week, president Brad Smith doubled down on their commitment.

“As we look to the future, we will do even more. As AI models continue to advance, we know we will need to address new and open research questions, close measurement gaps and design new practices, patterns and tools. We'll approach the road ahead with humility and a commitment to listening, learning and improving every day.”

Humility in a tech company. Now that's keeping it human.

Google also announced that they are testing a new ChatGPT-based product this week. It will be called Bard.

Let the AI wars begin!

Maura Charles is the founder of Keep it Human. As a Product Leadership Coach and Consultant, she is on a mission to help teams and organizations embrace human skills like communication and emotional intelligence in their ways of working.

She brings 25 years of experience as an editor, product manager, and digital business leader to bear on the challenges of building human-centered high-performing tech teams.

If you'd like to develop more human business and tech teams that hum together to drive results, check out Keep it Human and follow Maura Charles on LinkedIn.