Bing Chat has quickly grown into an AI-powered chatbot-cum-search engine trusted by millions of people. However, a big part of this experience is that so far Bing Chat can only be used when the user is online. However, there is now a chance that we will see it as a viable option to act as a independent AI like how we use ChatGPT.
The information comes from Windows Latest who has already tested this feature. If you’re wondering how to use Bing Chat offline yourself, this experience is reportedly only available to a ‘small group of users‘ so regular users don’t have dice for the time being. This offline mode is reportedly called the ‘no search mode.’ Hopefully we’ll see this feature implemented for everyone in Bing Chat soon.
So why is Microsoft doing this, and how can it be beneficial? According to WindowsLatest’s sources, Microsoft has received feedback on this people prefer a faster chatbot. Bing Chat is normal slowly because it searches the internet and then gives you the optimal results. So now, with the ‘no search mode’ for Bing, the AI works offline and functions in the same way as GPT, as shown in the tests. Below you can see how the AI behaved in offline mode. watch the Search toggle on the right, which is used to activate offline-only mode for Bing. Allowing this mode adds versatility to the Bing AI Chat.
Basically, by enabling this upcoming offline mode, users can access use the AI directly. It can then answer your questions without ever having to search the Internet for information. The tests showed that Bing Chat works much faster when the search integration feature is disabled. However, it does provide more outdated information for certain searches. Windows Latest suspects that Microsoft may be using a combination of GPT 3.5 and GPT 4 here. When the AI was asked about the version of ChatGPT it uses, it declined to answer, saying it is “not allowed to discuss anything about my training data.”
WindowsLatest also said that Bing Chat is going to get it third party plugins. According to them, Microsoft is currently testing five third-party plugins, and three of them can be used simultaneously in the conversation. However, to switch between plugins, a new topic must be started. One of the plugins is called OpenTable and offers restaurant recommendations.
It will be super convenient to use Bing AI Chat offline. It’s possible that Microsoft will allow this for the Copilot AI also. I theorize this because of the addition of NPU chip for offline AI in upcoming Intel 14th Gen CPUs. However, I also recommend taking this with a grain of salt, as it only makes half sense for Microsoft to ditch the search engine for an offline mode that could degrade Bing’s performance.
Are you excited to use offline mode for Bing Chat? Do you think having an offline mode for AI chatbots is a useful feature that more companies should adopt? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
