Thanks to Microsoft, ChatGPT is all the rage right now and it’s pretty much everywhere. The company brought OpenAI’s technology into Bing and made it available to try on desktops, the Edge browser, and even smartphones. As a result of Bing’s ChatGPT upgrade, the search engine (which has long been overshadowed by Google search) has finally amassed more than 100 million daily active users across desktops and smartphones.
It’s a milestone and I’d love to see how Microsoft goes with it by putting the new Bing on smartwatches. I say this because, as a Wear OS fan, Google is still lagging behind in bringing Assistant to many Wear OS 3 smartwatches, despite a number of devices launching over the past year. That’s unfortunate given the strides the company has made to improve its wearable platform. But while we wait, I think Microsoft has a good opportunity to capitalize on the hype and jump in with a Bing chat app for smartwatches.
Steam Ahead (from Google)
(Image credit: Future)
Because Microsoft has fully invested in the new Bing experience, the company is already ahead of Google in making it accessible to consumers, absorbing consumer feedback, and improving the service. Meanwhile, Google is only just bringing Bard to consumers as the hype surrounding ChatGPT continues to swell, although its solution isn’t perfect either.
With Wear OS 3, Microsoft has another way to “move forward,” so to speak. Last year, Google introduced an improved Google Assistant experience to the platform that works better and faster than before. It is currently available on the Pixel Watch and the latest Galaxy Watch models. However, the assistant is still missing from many Wear OS 3 watches, especially those powered by Qualcomm chipsets. It’s been almost a year since we’ve seen Wear OS 3 on non-Galaxy watches, and Google still hasn’t provided an update on when we can expect it to arrive.
This creates a way to get Bing Chat on Wear OS before Google can make the assistant available to everyone else. Microsoft couldn’t tell me if they actually have plans to bring the new Bing experience to smartwatches, but it just makes sense to me. Samsung is already giving users a choice between Bixby and Assistant, and Fossil has partnered with Amazon to enable Alexa on its smartwatches, so adding Microsoft smartwatch owners gives another option to choose from.
This ChatGPT is so hot right now
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich/Android Central)
Now let’s get one thing straight: I’m not entirely thrilled with this recent AI chatbot boom that has occurred in the wake of ChatGPT. I’ve played around with the new Bing chat experience a few times and find it quite amusing if not helpful when used in the right instances. But I think we’re relying on AI a little too much, to the point where we expect it to be deeply integrated into everything we do.
As Android Central’s Nick Sutrich writes, “ChatGPT has the potential to automate even the most critical parts of our tech-driven lives right now, and with that comes the loss of skills that so many people have developed over the years.”
However, it is impossible to ignore the impact it has on us. The conversational aspect of the chatbot makes it a fairly enticing alternative to both regular search engines and virtual assistants, acting more as a hybrid between the two. It somehow manages to make questing more accessible despite its shortcomings.
I think that could make it a great addition to smartwatches. As a Wear OS user, I switch between a few smartwatches fairly regularly. With the new ChatGPT craze in full swing, we’ve already seen a few examples of apps bringing the chatbot to both Wear OS and the Apple Watch.
However, I personally wouldn’t be interested in sticking any of these apps on my smartwatch, especially if they’re from an independent developer. The WearGPT app has already encountered some issues and appears to be “down for maintenance” at the time of writing, which seems a bit patchy to me. And don’t even get me started on the questionable Comic Sans-esque font.
However, Microsoft’s name on an official ChatGPT app (via Bing Chat) would catch my eye, and I’d be more inclined to install it on my personal smartwatches. Maybe it has to do with privacy or my own personal paranoia, but I would rather trust an app from Microsoft than from a relatively unknown developer.
Give us a smarter “assistant”
(Image credit: Chris Wedel/Android Central)
While Bing Chat isn’t an “assistant” per se, it behaves much more like one than current AI assistants, providing information that’s easy to understand in an even more conversational way. Also, it could work well on smartwatches, especially since Bing has voice input and output, so users don’t have to scroll through answers if they don’t want to.
Since Microsoft’s presence on Wear OS (and wearables in general) is fairly limited, Bing Chat allows the company to build on its current momentum by expanding its reach into consumers via smartwatches. This could serve as a new option for smartwatch owners who don’t want to use Bixby (for Galaxy Watches) or Siri (on the Apple Watch), and even for those who want to try something other than Google Assistant from their wrist.
At some point I’d love to see Google bring Bard to Wear OS in some form, be it via an updated Google Assistant or via a separate app. And I’m not even suggesting that Bing Chat could be a replacement for the partially absent Google Assistant; more of an alternative until Google can bring it together. But until then, Microsoft can throw Bing/ChatGPT into the mix, giving users a more enticing option for AI on our wrists, while Bing continues to become a much better known name.
