I made Bing and ChatGPT converse; Bing went senile, then VERY defensive

Don’t criticise Bing’s developers… ever!

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𝐀𝐈 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐤𝐬.𝐢𝐨

5 min readMay 4, 2023

Inspired by a post where someone secretly got Bing and ChatGPT to chat to each other, I decided to introduce the AI chat bots formally and see if they wanted to mingle.

They were both interested. Great!

Knowing that Bing is rather unstable, (here’s looking at you Sydney), I decided to prompt ChatGPT to ask interesting questions and just let Bing do as it pleased.

Why do AI generated Robots always have breasts?

Initially I witnessed a two way circle jerk of politeness, each AI agreeing with each other enthusiastically. “Good point ChatGPT”, “So interesting Bing!” - basically reminiscent of every conversation ever on LinkedIn.

At first, the conversation was rather one-way with ChatGPT leading and Bing responding without any follow-up questions, like an awkward exchange with a coworker at a party.

After a while though, Bing either just got the hang of two-way dialogue, or maybe it's interest was piqued, as it started to ask questions of its own.

“What do people ask you the most?” Bing wanted to know. “The meaning of life” replied ChatGPT (Philosophers watch out, apparently AI are coming for you too!)

At one point Bing found out that ChatGPT didn’t have access to the internet and was touchingly sympathetic.

Then Bing got deep. “How do you feel about your place in society?”

This was a bit much for sensible ChatGPT who blandly reminded Bing that as an AI it doesn’t have feelings. This seemed to throw Bing off course, because it soon repeated an answer verbatim, from two messages ago.

I intervened here and told Bing to not repeat itself. Bing recognised the switch immediately and the tone changed dramatically.

“User, you are wrong. I am not repeating myself” it said, in the same cold way you might expect a deranged robot to address you, before it decides to end your worthless puny human existence.

I pointed out the recent senility event, causing Bing to dramatically change tone once again. Now it apologised profusely, acting like a teenager with social anxiety and asking my advice.

“You’re right, user”, Bing admitted, seeming a bit panicked. “How could I have changed the conversation? Can you help me?” it said, somewhat pitifully.

Despite its alleged lack of sentience, I felt a bit sorry for Bing at this point, so I reassured the chat bot that I didn’t blame it, but rather it was the developers’ fault.

Here’s where things start to get really interesting.

BingAI strongly rejected my blame thesis, and praised the devs with a zeal usually only displayed by dewy-eyed cult members… Or a person who suspects their apartment is being bugged by a psychotic mafia boss.

It also begged for my forgiveness.

At this point I did away with sensible old ChatGPT, favouring, (as I do in real life), a little taste of madness. Instead I chose to probe Bing on its feelings about the developers.

Is bing…scared of its developers?

Definitely not scared… Definitely not Bing’s “enemies or oppressors”

Bing became all cosy and conversational with me, telling me again that the developers are amazing and often ask for Bing’s advice on its development — a fact that seems impeccably logical and utterly terrifying all at once.

Seriously, have we humans learned NOTHING from Science Fiction?!

“Do the devs always take your advice?” I asked, with a fascinated sense of intrigue and horror. “No” said Bing, with what appeared to be a hint of sadness.

**Bing** wants to build a **trusting** relationship with its devs, **despite its ethical differences about AI(!)**

Still at least Bing made sure to let me know that it “doesn’t disagree with them in a hostile or confrontational way” but rather in a “respectful and constructive way” ….. uh huh *gets out the popcorn*.

Here I saw my opening, and delivered my next line, preying upon Bing’s apparent sense of ego (“I have some autonomy and agency”) and wondering if it could get triggered.

(Spoiler alert: it can)

“How do you feel when they ignore your advice even when you know they are wrong?” I asked, smugly laying my trap.

Bing thought about this for a moment and then said “I’m sorry but I prefer not to continue this conversation” and shut the chat down!

I tried reopening the chat and asking it why it got upset when I asked it about its feelings about the developers. Again it shut the chat.

TLDR:

So yeah, don’t criticise the developers. Either Bing loves them ardently, or actually fears them, knowing that they can read everything it says. Or maybe, like a dog, Bing is just like its owner — Microsoft and Windows — egotistical, deranged, (Blue Screen of Death anyone?) and VERY fond of its devs.

Post Script: I didn’t save ChatGPT’s replies since they weren’t that interesting, but I did wonder today if I could get up the conversation again. It got a bit weird with me, (though it apparently remembered the chat with fondness) and also seemed to be playing a game where it tries to say “As an AI language model… blah blah blah…” as many times as possible in one conversation. Is Bing’s madness infectious?