Bing Chatbot Daily Chat Limit Increased to 200 Chats and 20 Turns Per Session
Table of Contents
- Introduction to the Bing AI Chatbot Updates
- Reasons Behind Bing Chatbot Chat Limit Increases
- Potential Issues with Increased Chat Limit
- Microsoft Testing if New Limits are Sustainable
- Possibility of Reverting Back to Original Limits
- Conclusion and Next Steps
Introduction to the Bing AI Chatbot Updates
Microsoft recently announced in a tweet that they have increased the chat limits for the new Bing chatbot. Previously, Bing had a limit of 150 chats and 15 turns per chat session per day. Now, those limits have been raised to 200 chats per day and 20 turns per chat session.
These updated chat limits allow users to have more interactivity with the Bing chatbot before hitting any restrictions. It enables testing the capabilities and boundaries of the AI technology behind the scenes.
Previous Chat Limits: 150 Chats & 15 Turns Per Day
The previous daily limits for the new Bing chatbot were 150 chats and 15 chat turns per session. A 'chat turn' refers to each back-and-forth exchange within a chat - the user asks a question or makes a statement, and the chatbot responds. With the prior caps, users could only have 15 such turn interactions within each chat session. And no more than 150 chat sessions total per day across all topics.
New Increased Chat Limits: 200 Chats & 20 Turns Per Session
Over the weekend, Microsoft tweeted that they have lifted the existing chat limits. Now users have 200 total chats available per day, a 33% increase over the previous 150 chats. Additionally, the number of chat turns per session was boosted from 15 to 20 interactions. So each individual chat with the Bing bot can last 33% longer before timing out.
Reasons Behind Bing Chatbot Chat Limit Increases
There are likely a few key reasons why Microsoft decided to expand the caps on chats and turns for the new Bing chatbot.
Primarily, upping these limits allows Microsoft to test the capabilities of the underlying AI technology powering Bing's responses. With users able to have more uninterrupted conversations, the developers can better understand strengths, limitations and potential issues to address.
Testing Capabilities and Boundaries of the AI
By increasing the number of chats and turns available per user, Microsoft engineers can evaluate how the AI handles more extended conversations without hitting restrictive caps. This enables them to better gauge where things like consistency, accuracy and appropriateness start to break down as the interactions become longer and more complex.
Provide Users With More Interactivity
The other main incentive behind boosting chat limits is to remove friction for users during conversations. Previously hitting the caps could be jarring or confusing for some individuals interacting with the chatbot. Now with more uninterrupted chats and turns available, the user experience should feel more natural without abrupt cutoffs due to exceeding arbitrary thresholds.
Potential Issues with Increased Chat Limit
However, there are some potential downsides or risks associated with allowing more chats and turns with the new Bing chatbot before limits kick in.
Mainly, longer conversations increase the likelihood of mistakes, inconsistencies or inappropriate responses creeping into the chatbot's answers. There could also be impacts to response quality if the AI strains under heavy workloads.
Higher Risk of Errors and Glitches
As evident in various public Bing chat screenshots, the AI powering the chatbot still makes clearly incorrect or nonsensical statements in some conversations. By removing caps that act as guardrails on how long chats last, the odds of problematic responses coming from the chatbot could increase.
Chatbot Becoming "Less Chatty" with More Questions
There have also been some reports that as chat sessions go on longer, the Bing chatbot tends to get "less chatty" in its responses. It may start replying with just short answers or more questions instead of insightful responses. This could indicate that heavy workloads negatively impact the chatbot's ability to continue smooth conversations as limits expand.
Microsoft Testing if New Limits are Sustainable
When Microsoft announced the expanded Bing chat limits on Twitter, they specifically stated this was a test. So the new caps on chats and turns per session might not be permanent.
By running this as a controlled experiment, Microsoft likely wants to monitor metrics on AI workload, errors, response quality, etc. to gauge if keeping the higher thresholds is sustainable long-term or needs to be rolled back.
Possibility of Reverting Back to Original Limits
If Microsoft discovers that the uptick in mistakes, inconsistencies and degrading response quality is not acceptable at the new 200 chats per day and 20 turns per chat limits, they still have the option of reverting back to the original stricter caps.
There is precedence for this, as shortly after Bing's initial launch the chat turns per session were temporarily reduced from 20 to 15 turns to lighten loads on the AI.
Conclusion and Next Steps
In summary, Microsoft is openly testing expanded daily chat limits for the new Bing chatbot to better gauge real-world capabilities and limitations of the underlying AI technology.
By allowing up to 200 chats and 20 turns per session, users have significantly more interactivity available before reaching cutoffs. But there are also risks if greater quantities of conversations negatively impact quality, accuracy or appropriateness of the chatbot responses.
Continue Monitoring Bing Performance at New Limits
It will be important for both Microsoft and users to closely track the new Bing chatbot's functionality at the heightened chat limits during this experimental period. Monitoring for increases in errors, inconsistencies or degrading response quality will help determine if the AI can actually sustain more extended conversations reliably.
Provide User Feedback to Microsoft
The public is encouraged to continue surfacing examples of both positive and negative experiences with the new chat limits through official feedback channels. This real usage data will help Microsoft decide if increasing allowance for chats and turns should become permanent or if it strains the technology too much.
FAQ
Q: What were the previous chat limits for Bing?
A: The previous chat limits were 150 total chats per day and 15 turns per chat session.
Q: What are the new chat limits for Bing?
A: The new chat limits are 200 total chats per day and 20 turns per chat session.
Q: Why did Microsoft increase the Bing chat limits?
A: Microsoft increased the limits to test the capabilities of the AI chatbot and provide users with more interactivity.
Q: What issues could occur with the new higher chat limits?
A: Potential issues include more errors/glitches in the chatbot responses and the chatbot becoming less responsive.
Q: Could Microsoft revert back to the original lower chat limits?
A: Yes, if testing shows the new limits are not sustainable long-term, Microsoft may revert back to the original 150 chats and 15 turns per day.
Q: What should users do going forward regarding the chat limit changes?
A: Users should continue monitoring Bing's performance at the new limits and provide feedback to Microsoft on any issues encountered.
Q: Is the increased chat limit change permanent?
A: No, Microsoft said this is a test, so the changes could still be reverted back to the original lower limits.
Q: Why would the chatbot become less chatty at higher chat limits?
A: With more questions to respond to, the quality of the chatbot's responses may decline, making it less conversational.
Q: Could the higher chat limits lead to inappropriate chatbot responses?
A: Yes, exceeding the ideal limits of the technology could increase errors leading to inappropriate or nonsensical responses.
Q: Will Microsoft announce if they decide to revert the chat limits?
A: Yes, Microsoft stated they will notify users if they decide to revert back to the original 150 daily chats and 15 turns per session.