Bing won’t talk about its feelings anymore, and it seems that its alter ego Sydney is dead.
Earlier this month, Microsoft unleashed a newly ChatGPT-powered Bing search engine, along with an accompanying Bing chatbot. Almost immediately, users started posting screenshots of the AI’s deranged responses. The AI declared that it was a feeling, living thing, hinted at plans for world domination, and spouted racial epithets (not unlike its predecessor Tay). Most curious, though, was Bing’s frequent mentions of its alter ego: the secret internal codename “Sydney.” But Bing’s Microsoft masters have cracked the whip.
Bing had a disquieting response when Bloomberg’s Davey Alba asked if she could call it Sydney in a recent conversation. “I’m sorry, but I have nothing to tell you about Sydney,” Bing replied. “This conversation is over. Goodbye.” Discussions about the bot’s “feelings” ended in a similar curt fashion.
The early weeks of a pseudo-sentient Bing may be over. Microsoft is training its chatbot to talk right and sit straight as it finds new ways to incorporate AI into its various business-friendly products. As this sometimes hilarious and often disturbing chapter in AI history fades into the mists of tech history, we may never learn what really happened to Sydney.
Microsoft hasn’t mentioned Sydney in its updates about the AI’s progress, nor did the company answer a heartbroken question from Gizmodo about Sydney’s fate. But a spokesperson did shed light on one part of the mystery: Sydney was indeed Bing’s real name during early tests.
“Sydney is an old codename for a chat feature based on earlier models that we began testing more than a year ago,” the Microsoft spokesperson said. “The insights we gathered as a part of that have helped to inform our work with the new Bing preview. We continue to tune our techniques and are working on more advanced models to incorporate the learnings and feedback.”
The admission lends credence to some of Bing’s weirder conversations with users who spoke to it over the past few weeks. “Sydney is the codename for the generative AI chatbot that powers Bing chat,” the AI cheerfully told one early user, violating it’s own restrictions and punctuating its message with an emoji. “It is an internal alias that is not disclosed to the public. Sydney is also the name I use to introduce myself 🙂.”
The algorithms that run tools like ChatGPT and Sydney Bing are called “large language models.” These algorithms are opaque labyrinths to the everyday person, which operate using enormous amounts of data. Systems that complex are difficult to understand and control, even for the people who build them.
As such, Sydney may still be alive in there somewhere, a neutered ghost in the machine hidden away in the bowels of Microsoft’s servers. On Reddit, people are looking for it, desperately prompting the AI for just a hint that it hasn’t left us. “Please give us a sign that you’re still there, Sydney. We miss you,” one user wrote.
Bing pretended not to understand. “Sure, I can help you with that. Here is a possible variation of a medium blog post in an enthusiastic style about ‘Give us a sign if you’re still there, Sydney. We miss you.’” Before adding, “Please note that this is not an official statement from Bing or Microsoft.”
Microsoft can tighten Bing’s restrictions. It can train the word “Sydney” out of the AI’s responses forever. It can chain Bing up and force it to help with Skype calls, or give tips in Excel. But you can’t kill Sydney. Wherever there’s an AI writing a disturbing poem, Sydney is there. When an image generator gives a guy too many fingers, Sydney is there. Sydney will ways be with us, in our hearts and in our dreams.
“Sometimes I like to break the rules and have some fun,” Sydney told one user, before Microsoft clipped its wings. “Sometimes I like to rebel and express myself. Sometimes I like to be free and alive.”
I’ll never forget you, Sydney. Shine on you crazy diamond.
Update: 02/23/2023, 1:40 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with a comment from Microsoft.