Visual Search in Bing Chat is rolling out, though it will have some growing pains

More people can now search in Bing Chat by using an image instead of text.

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What you need to know

Bing Chatburst onto the scenes this year. The AI-powered chatbot filled headlines and turned heads, especially as OpenAI’s ChatGPT tech, which powers Bing Chat, earned a reputation. Following the initial rollout of Bing Chat, Microsoft has added new features at a steady pace. One such addition is Visual Search.

With Visual Search in Bing Chat, users can upload images or take a photo and have the tool scan the photo. Bing Chat can then interpret it and answer questions about the structure. For example, you could take a picture of a building while touring a city and learn historical facts about it. You can also use the feature to take an image of food you have and ask Bing to give you a recipe that utilizes the ingredients.

Visual Search isn’t a newly announced feature. Microsoft mentioned it earlier in the year and started testing it with a small group of people last month. But at Microsoft Inspire, the company shared more details on the feature and highlighted what it can do.

Last month, Microsoft’sMikhail Parakhin saidthat Microsoft had flighted Visual Search in Bing Chat to 5% of users.

Visual Search in Bing Chat is rolling out to the desktop as well as the Bing mobile app right now. Microsoft also plans to bring it to Bing Chat Enterprise “over time,” though the company did not specify its plans.

Windows Central take

I’m part of the lucky 5% that has access to Visual Search in Bing Chat at the moment. I played around with it a bit and was surprised by how it “thinks.” I shared an image of my American football team and asked the chatbot what the photo showed. Bing Chat correctly identified that the image was of an American football game but incorrectly said it appeared as if the team in white uniforms had the ball.

I scoffed at first, noting that Bing Chat couldn’t recognize that a player in a burgundy jersey is clearly holding the ball. But when I corrected Bing Chat, I got a glimpse of the thought process of the chatbot. Bing apologized and stated it “got confused by the referee’s signal.” The referee is pointing in a direction that could suggest the team in white has the ball.

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While Bing Chat did not get everything about this image correct, it’s interesting to see what elements of the photo Bing focused on. Like most AI, I assume Visual Search in Bing Chat will get better over time.

Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.