The success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT inspired Microsoft to add more AI features to its Bing search engine.
The idea is that this will allow users to receive more elaborate answers compared to an ordinary list of links.
Whether this strategy will pay off has yet to be seen, but in our tests, something else stood out. People are not the only ones asking questions. Bing itself is quite interested to hear what its users think too.
Bing’s Pirate Bay Poll
As expected, a regular keyword search for “Pirate Bay” returns a lot of information about the site. In addition to the correct URL, which was previously absent, Bing also lists an intriguing poll. Specifically, it wants to know how people effectively protect themselves while using The Pirate Bay.
Bing provides its users with four options to choose from, including the use of a VPN, a proxy, the Tor browser, or a dedicated IP address. Depending on one’s definition of ‘safe’ a VPN is the most obvious answer, which is also reflected in the results.
This poll has little to do with ChatGPT of course but it is possible that Bing somehow uses the results to improve its general search functionality. Or perhaps these questions are generated by AI?
As a small experiment, we decided to ask Bing the same question it asked us (What is the most effective way to protect yourself while using The Pirate Bay?). And indeed, a VPN does up as the answer in a massive font.
Torrent Clients, Fmovies, RARBG, and The Dark Web
User polls aren’t exclusive to The Pirate Bay. There are several other file-sharing and piracy-related topics where other polls appear. When we type BitTorrent, for example, we’re asked about our favorite torrent client.
The options are rather limited but with 57%, uTorrent is the clear winner, followed by qBitTorrent with nearly a quarter of the votes.
When we search for Fmovies, one of the most popular pirate streaming sites, Bing suddenly wants to know what movie genres we watch most often on the site. Here, ‘action’ is the public’s favorite with nearly half of the votes.
Meanwhile, RARBG’s demise has yet to be reflected in Bing’s data. The search engine mentions a copycat site as the top result and still asks whether people think that a VPN is necessary to access RARBG.
Finally, there’s also a poll about the dark web, but perhaps it’s best if we don’t mention that explicitly.
From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.
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