Microsoft is tightening its restrictions on its Bing chat AI chatbot in an try to restrict its “atypical use cases”… and loosening them, too.

Last Friday, Microsoft mentioned it could restrict the variety of particular person chats per session to 5, and cap interactions with the chatbot at 50. On Tuesday, Microsoft expanded that to 6 per session, or 60 per day, and mentioned it hoped to maneuver to 100 chats per day, quickly.

The purpose? Microsoft mentioned that it discovered that extended interactions with the Bing Chat AI produced a few of the interactions which were broadly characterised as bizarre: professions of affection, vaguely threatening responses, and so forth. Microsoft’s aim appears to be to maximise its utility, with out dialing up the loopy.

“These long and intricate chat sessions are not something we would typically find with internal testing,” Microsoft said Tuesday. “In fact, the very reason we are testing the new Bing in the open with a limited set of preview testers is precisely to find these atypical use cases from which we can learn and improve the product.”

Mark Hachman / IDG

Users complained, nonetheless, that the restrictions made Bing too bland, and the small window of interplay in a typical “session” was too small to permit a lot interplay, and {that a} typical search generated a small chat window within the conventional record of hyperlinks—which counted towards a consumer’s quota. Executives mentioned on Twitter that counting chats generated within the search outcomes towards a consumer’s restrict was a mistake.

Microsoft mentioned that it’s additionally making an attempt to strike a steadiness between details and creativity.

“We are also going to begin testing an additional option that lets you choose the tone of the Chat from more Precise—which will focus on shorter, more search-focused answers—to Balanced, to more Creative—which gives you longer and more chatty answers,” Microsoft added.  The aim is to present you extra management on the kind of chat conduct to finest meet your wants.”

Mark Hachman / IDG

The drawback is that Microsoft additionally seems to be drastically reeling Bing in. A fast few queries requested of the Bing Chat on Tuesday produced the identical response: “I’m sorry but I prefer not to continue this conversation. I’m still learning so I appreciate your understanding and patience.🙏”

When requested why Bing stored declining to reply, Bing didn’t reply.