Have you ever encountered situations where Microsoft excessively promotes recommendations and suggestions to encourage you to use its products while using its browser or applications? This is a common problem experienced by many users of Microsoft products, particularly its browser, Microsoft Edge.
According to a recent report from The Verge, it appears that this issue extends beyond just Microsoft Edge and also affects the new Bing AI. When a user searches for Chrome within Microsoft Edge, the Bing AI reportedly generates content promoting the superiority of Edge and Bing over their competitors.
The Bing AI searched for “news articles about Bing features.” It then displayed text promoting Bing’s features and explaining why it is superior to its competitors.
Another concerning revelation is that whenever users search for keywords related to competitors in Microsoft Edge, Bing AI consistently displays identical text without any alterations or modifications.
This has led internet users to speculate that Microsoft has preprogrammed Bing AI to show this specific text whenever someone searches for products from competitors.
Typically, when an AI chatbot generates text for the same question multiple times, it tends to provide similar answers but with slight variations or modifications. However, in the case of Bing AI, the answer it provides for similar queries appears to be consistently identical without any discernible changes or modifications.
Microsoft Edge often faces a preference challenge among internet users due to factors such as user interface, design, and ease of use. Google Chrome is the preferred choice for many users. In fact, some users go as far as installing Chrome and related software applications through Microsoft Edge, which can be frustrating for Microsoft.
To encourage users to remain loyal to their products, Microsoft frequently provides recommendations for Edge and other Microsoft-powered applications. They consistently send messages highlighting the advantages of Edge and other Microsoft applications over their competitors.
Microsoft turns off the feature
Following The Verge’s report on the incident, Microsoft reportedly disabled the feature and issued a statement addressing the situation.
The statement explained that Microsoft frequently conducts experiments with new features, user experiences, and behaviors in order to test and enhance customer experiences. These tests are typically brief and do not necessarily reflect the final offerings provided to customers.
While Microsoft has gained a reputation for engaging in competitive acts within the internet realm, the manipulation of Bing AI’s responses takes the issue to a new level. This behavior will have a highly detrimental effect on Microsoft, especially at a time when it aims to establish itself as a strong AI competitor against tech giants like Google and Baidu.