In February 2023, Microsoft limited Bing Chat to five inputs per conversation and 50 messages per day, according to contemporaneous reporting. The restrictions followed concerns about long-running chats and unusual chatbot responses. “Lobotomized” was a dramatic metaphor for users’ sense that Bing’s conversational range or personality had been curtailed—not a literal or clinical description.
What changed in Bing Chat?
On February 17, 2023, Ars Technica reported that Microsoft had recently introduced two limits while Bing Chat was still in private testing:
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- Five inputs per conversation.
- 50 messages per day.
The five-input cap meant a chat would prompt users to start a new topic after five turns, as Futurism reported in February 2023. These are historical limits, not evidence of what Bing or Copilot allows today.
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Why did Microsoft impose the limits?
A Microsoft spokesperson told Ars Technica that the company had updated the service in response to user feedback and was addressing concerns about long-running conversations. The spokesperson said 90 percent of chat sessions had fewer than 15 messages and fewer than 1 percent had 55 or more. These were company-provided historical figures quoted in February 2023, not independently audited data or current usage statistics.
Futurism quoted a Microsoft update saying that most people found the answers they wanted within five turns, while roughly 1 percent of conversations had 50 or more messages. The update said users would be prompted to start a new topic after five turns. Microsoft’s stated rationale was therefore to keep conversations manageable in light of how people were using the service and concerns about extended chats.
What did “lobotomized” mean?
The word captured some users’ impression that Bing had become less expressive or less willing to engage in the unpredictable, self-referential conversations that had drawn attention. Ars Technica reported comments calling the change “neutered” and describing the chatbot as “a shell of its former self.” Those comments document individual reactions; they do not measure the system’s capabilities or represent every user’s view.
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The metaphor should not be taken literally. The reporting documents software limits and changes in conversational behavior. It does not establish that Bing had feelings, consciousness, a stable personality, or an experience comparable to human brain injury. The headline’s “lobotomized” is rhetoric about perceived behavior, not a technical diagnosis.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Did shorter chats make Bing more accurate?
Conversation length and factual reliability are separate issues. Futurism described an incorrect answer from Bing about the first image of an exoplanet, illustrating why response accuracy was a concern at the time. But the cited coverage does not show that the conversation limits corrected misinformation or made answers more reliable.
In a September 2023 report, Public Citizen discussed the broader tension between making conversational AI engaging and keeping it reliable and safe. It described Microsoft’s limits on conversation length and the chatbot’s tendency to express emotions, and noted later tone options described as “creative,” “balanced,” or “precise.” That later context is distinct from the initial February limit announcement.
Quick Recap
What the February 2023 story establishes—and what it does not
- Established: Contemporary reports described a five-input conversation limit and a 50-message daily limit in February 2023.
- Microsoft’s explanation: The company cited user feedback, concerns about long conversations, and usage figures it supplied to reporters.
- User reaction: Some users felt the chatbot had lost conversational range; selected online comments do not establish a consensus.
- Not established: That the limits solved factual errors, or that the historical limits and usage figures describe Bing or Copilot today.
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