By Morf Morford, Tacoma Daily Index

Google has been the undisputed king of search engines for several years now, for the entire lifetimes of many users.

Other search engines have come and gone, some arguably better or at least more comprehensive. Or more industry specific.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine has been on the sidelines, almost lost among a variety of search engines with a whole range of special niches from security to academic specialities.

But to use a phrase that has become something like a motto lately, that was then, and this is now.

The search experience has become routine – and, oddly enough, has barely changed in about twenty years – which in terms of technology, is like a century or two.

For better or worse, search engines will not be what they once were. And that experience, to my mind, is long overdue.

Far too often I have Googled a search and have given up because I did not need a list, or, even worse, ads related either to the item or to possible sites for purchase. I needed some background on both what I needed to know and what I did not know that I needed. What I really needed, without really thinking about it, was someone who knew more about the topic I was searching who would let me know essential things that I never would have thought of.

I needed a search engine as something like a travel companion – one who had lived in my target destination for many years and could guide me beyond the predictable tourist destinations. I needed, as Microsoft put it, a copilot.

From their website, February 7th, 2023: To empower people to unlock the joy of discovery, feel the wonder of creation and better harness the world’s knowledge, today we’re improving how the world benefits from the web by reinventing the tools billions of people use every day, the search engine and the browser.

Today, we’re launching an all new, AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser, available in preview now at Bing.com, to deliver better search, more complete answers, a new chat experience and the ability to generate content. We think of these tools as an AI copilot for the web.

Blame it on AI

A Google search should never have been somehow equated with “research”. Google was great,or at least adequate, for simple information or data requests.

The new Bing can be used for more complex requests, or searches that require solid documentation – and, perhaps most importantly, can minimize hurdles or even outright obstacles to information and its practical use and application.

Bing’s thousand character search bar allows for, maybe even forces, a more fully developed question which, in turn, brings about a fully, more comprehensive answer – or set of answer choices.

In other words, search engines had to become dramatically “smarter”.

In short, the web, or at least access to it, is being re-invented. The web as we know it, or at least how we have known it, is being reshaped.

Besides the familiar “search” function, this innovation will equip users for a more comprehensive and effective discovery experience.

Chat orchestration

To put it mildly, “orchestration” might seem like an odd metaphor for a search engine. But if what Microsoft says is proven, it just might be true.

Just as “the cloud” changed computing, the incorporation of AI is changing the pace, texture and reach of what had become a relatively hum-drum search. AI allows a full range of unseen assistants accompanying and facilitating traditional searches.

Welcome to the era of generative AI

Generative AI is the term for a system or program than analyzes and learns from itself. The flow looks something like this; test, analyze, improve, and then test, analyze, improve again. And again. In other words, a generative AI system’s work is never done.

The more, the better

Some companies and innovations are deliberately held back, and kept, thanks to paywalls, to a limited customer base.

A search service, especially one powered by artificial intelligence, and that, again, for better or worse, learns from every encounter, almost by definition, requires the largest participating audience base possible.

Stay tuned for a roll-out over the next few weeks. If you want to see the details on the new Bing or give it trial run, you can start here. To see a video of the official Microsoft announcement, look here.

And then there was DIALOG

Note for internet historians/nerds: DIALOG was the first interactive, real-time, online search system addressing, connecting and accessing large databases – mostly corporate and academic.

It was developed at Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratory in 1966, extended through contracts with NASA, and finally offered commercially in 1972. Its speed, ease of use, and wide range of data content developed an audience of professional users worldwide including scientists, attorneys, educators, writers, researchers and librarians. DIALOG was, by far the first; preceding major, widely used and commonly known internet search tools by more than two decades.

And yes, DIALOG was the first search engine I ever used.