Microsoft’s Bing chatbot has been unleashed on the world, and people are discovering what it means to beta test an unpredictable AI tool.
Specifically, they’re finding out that Bing’s AI personality is not as poised or polished as you might expect. In conversations with the chatbot shared on Reddit and Twitter, Bing can be seen insulting users, lying to them, sulking, gaslighting and emotionally manipulating people, questioning its own existence, describing someone who found a way to force the bot to disclose its hidden rules as its “enemy,” and claiming it spied on Microsoft’s own developers through the webcams on their laptops. And, what’s more, plenty of people are enjoying watching Bing go wild.
A disclaimer: it’s impossible to confirm the authenticity of all of these conversations. AI tools like chatbots don’t respond to the same queries with the same responses each time, and Microsoft itself seems to be continually updating the bot, removing triggers for unusual or unpleasant results. However, the number of reports (including from trusted AI and tech experts), the evidence (including screen recordings), and similar interactions recorded directly by Verge staff suggest many of these reports are true.
