Technologies

Bing AI Bungles Search Results at Times, Just Like Google

Expect search engines to tread carefully as tests reveal problems with AI language skills.

A close reading of Bing’s AI-boosted search results reveals that the website can make the same kinds of errors that are apparent in the ChatGPT technology foundation it uses and in Google’s competing Bard.

A new version of Bing that’s in limited testing employs large language model, or LLM, technology from OpenAI, the research lab Microsoft invested in and that grabbed the tech spotlight with its ChatGPT AI chatbot. ChatGPT and related technology, trained on enormous swaths of the internet, can produce remarkable results, but they don’t truly know facts and they can make errors.

Bing tries to avoid such errors by «grounding» results with Microsoft’s search technology, assessing the veracity and authority of source documents and offering links to sources, so people can evaluate the results on their own better. But AI and search engine researcher Dmitri Brereton and others have spotted errors in Bing’s demo, including flawed financial data from a Gap quarterly earnings report.

It’s a buzzkill moment for AI. The technology truly can produce remarkable and useful results, but the trouble is assessing when it isn’t doing that. Expect more caution as the search engine industry tries to find the right formula.

Google felt the pain after a demo last week when its Bard tool, which isn’t yet publicly available, produced erroneous information about the James Webb Space Telescope.

Microsoft offered a similar response Tuesday to what Google said about its gaffe: «We recognize that there is still work to be done and are expecting that the system may make mistakes during this preview period, which is why the feedback is critical so we can learn and help the models get better.»

One basic problem is that large language models, even if trained using text like academic papers and Wikipedia entries that have passed some degree of scrutiny, don’t necessarily assemble factual responses from that raw material.

As internet pioneer and Google researcher Vint Cerf said Monday, AI is «like a salad shooter,» scattering facts all over the kitchen but not truly knowing what it’s producing. «We are a long way away from the self-awareness we want,» he said in a talk at the TechSurge Summit.

Summarizing documents might appear to be within AI’s advanced language processing abilities, but constructing human-readable sentences without drawing in inappropriate information can be difficult. For example, in this request to summarize a spec sheet for Canon’s new R8 mirrorless camera, Bing technology rattled off many features that actually are found in Canon’s earlier R5.

Another high-profile computer scientist, former Stanford University Professor John Hennessy, was more bullish than Cerf, praising AI for its language skills in understanding search queries and generating results that often are correct. But he also cautioned, «It’s always confident that it has the right answer even when it doesn’t.»

OpenAI itself offers the same warning. «ChatGPT sometimes writes plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers. Fixing this issue is challenging,» the AI research lab said when it launched ChatGPT in November.

Editors’ note: CNET is using an AI engine to create some personal finance explainers that are edited and fact-checked by our editors. For more, see this post.

Technologies

The Most Exciting Video Game Rumors and Leaks Ahead of 2026

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Dec. 17

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 17.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Nod (off)
Answer: DOZE

5A clue: Naval submarine in W.W. II
Answer: UBOAT

7A clue: Tricky thing to do on a busy highway
Answer: MERGE

8A clue: Heat-resistant glassware for cooking
Answer: PYREX

9A clue: Put into groups
Answer: SORT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Break up with
Answer: DUMP

2D clue: Falls in line, so to speak
Answer: OBEYS

3D clue: Legendary vigilante who cuts a «Z» with his sword
Answer: ZORRO

4D clue: Rarin’ to go
Answer: EAGER

6D clue: Common reminder for an upcoming appointment
Answer: TEXT

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

You Can Watch an Exclusive Avatar: Fire and Ash Scene on TikTok Right Now

Disney and TikTok partner on an immersive content hub for James Cameron’s latest movie about the alien Na’vi.

If you’re not quite ready to head to the theater to watch Avatar: Fire and Ash, an exclusive scene preview might sell you on the visual spectacle. As part of a new collaboration with the social media giant, Disney is posting snippets of its new movie to its TikTok account.

This scene isn’t part of any trailer and won’t be posted to other social media accounts, making TikTok the only place you can view it — unless you buy a movie ticket. A first look at the new movie’s scenes isn’t the only Avatar-related bonus on the social media platform right now, either. TikTok has partnered with the house of mouse to bring an entire «immersive content hub» to the app.

A special section of TikTok includes quizzes and educational videos that explore the alien world of Pandora shown off in the movies. On TikTok, you can take a personality quiz to find out what Na’vi clan you most closely align with and unlock a special profile picture border to use on your account.

Science and fiction blend together with a series of videos from real doctors who explain the basis for some of Avatar’s world-building. If you want to learn about exoplanets or how realistic the anatomy of the movie’s alien animals is, these videos will feed your brain while still providing entertainment value.

Perhaps the most enticing part of Disney’s latest social media collaboration is the opportunity for fans to win prizes and trips. TikTok creators who make edits with the #TikTokAvatarContest hashtag are entered into a competition to win Avatar merchandise. The biggest winners will be able to take a trip to visual effects studio Wētā Workshop in New Zealand or visit Avatar director James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment Studio in Los Angeles.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third installment in director Cameron’s cinematic passion project. While the first Avatar movie was released in 2009, Cameron didn’t release another entry in the franchise until 2022. In total, there is a five-movie arc planned for the indigo alien Na’vi on the moon of Pandora.

The Avatar movies are known for pushing the boundaries of CGI visual effects in cinema. They are also historically big winners at the box office: the original Avatar is the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion across its theatrical releases. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, trailing Avengers: Endgame. You can stream those movies on Disney Plus.

It remains to be seen whether Avatar: Fire and Ash will financially live up to its predecessors. The film currently has mixed reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.