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Microsoft Previews AI-Powered Bing Image Creator
Microsoft on Tuesday announced a preview of the artificial intelligence (AI)-generated Bing Image Creator in the Microsoft Edge browser, along with new Stories and Knowledge Card 2.0 Bing search capabilities.
The Bing Image Creator lets users generate images from text descriptions. It uses OpenAI's DALL-E model to create the images. The Microsoft Edge browser, based on the Google-fostered Chromium engine, is now "the first and only browser with an integrated AI-powered image generator."
Users that signed up to use the AI-powered Bing preview, which is based on OpenAI's GPT-4 large language model, can now use the Bing Image Creator preview. It is available via an "Image Creator icon" sidebar in the desktop and mobile versions of Microsoft's browser. However, the Bing Image Creator preview also is accessible now to the public at the URL, "bing.com/create for Bing users around the world in English."
Surprisingly, that URL let me create an image from text with the results showing in my default Google Chrome browser. It's surprising because the Microsoft Edge browser is stated as being needed to use the AI-powered Bing search, according to this Microsoft FAQ.
I asked the Bing Image Creator preview to create a skyscraper building in Salvador Dali style, and it offered the following four visual results:
[Click on image for larger view.]
Figure 1. Bing Image Creator preview shows four images from the prompt, "a skyscraper building in Salvador Dali style" (source: bing.com/create).
I had originally asked the Bing Image Creator to show "Bill Gates as overlord in Salvador Dali style" but this prompt was blocked, possibly due to Microsoft's content policy. The result was blocked, too, after I removed the words, "as overlord."
Bing search users also are getting new Stories and Knowledge Cards 2.0 features. "Stories provide a more engaging way to search and interact with content, offering images and short videos," the announcement explained. It described Knowledge Cards 2.0 as "an AI-powered infographic-inspired experience that provides fun facts and key information at a glance." Microsoft has updated Knowledge Cards 2.0 to include charts and timelines that show "interactive" and "dynamic content."
Microsoft has plans to integrate the Bing Image Creator into AI-powered Bing chat so that people can create images using that interface, too.
So far, Microsoft has tracked "more than 100 million chats to date" using the new AI-powered Bing chat.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.