Microsoft SwiftKey is making South Park's ChatGPT episode a reality

South Park on ChatGPT
(Image credit: South Park / Comedy Central)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft's SwiftKey Beta now supports Bing Chat.
  • It's now possible to search the web and chat with Bing directly through the popular third-party keyboard.
  • You can also use Bing Chat within SwiftKey to rewrite your text messages in various tones.

Microsoft is bringing Bing Chat to your fingertips. The popular chatbot is now built into SwiftKey Beta, allowing you to search the web and talk with Bing Chat without leaving your current app. 

Bing Chat within SwiftKey can also rewrite your messages in several tones to help you communicate.

The new Bing Chat option in SwiftKey (beta) for Android. (Image credit: Daniel Rubino)

Pedram Rezaei, CTO at Microsoft, pointed out the new integration on Twitter (via The Verge). The feature is rolling out slowly, so you might not see it at this time. I was able to try it right away, as were some of my colleagues.

Bing Chat within SwiftKey works how you'd expect. It's the mobile version of Bing Chat wrapped within a keyboard. But it also integrates with the keyboard by letting you paste generated responses into your messages.

The tone feature seems like a fun tool to play with. You can enter a text message, and Bing will rewrite it in four tones; professional, casual, polite, and for a social post. The messages vary quite a bit and can be entertaining. When you find a message you like, you can paste it with one click. You can also edit the message before sending it, so it isn't just AI chatting with your friends.

SwiftKey Beta | Free at Google Play

<a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey.beta&pli=1" data-link-merchant="play.google.com"">SwiftKey Beta | Free at Google Play

SwiftKey is one of the most popular keyboards for Android phones. Microsoft is currently testing an integration between Bing Chat and SwiftKey that places the power of AI at your fingertips.

Windows Central take

This is another example of life imitating art. Another way to look at it is that the writers of South Park are pretty good at predicting things while adding a nice bit of satire. A few weeks ago, a South Park episode centered around characters using ChatGPT to communicate with their girlfriends.

While I'm sure that people could use Bing Chat within SwiftKey in a variety of ways, it's pretty dang easy to do what Stan and Clyde did in South Park. I played around with the feature for a few minutes, and it was able to rewrite my messages in different tones. I also jumped directly into Bing Chat to ask advice on how to answer someone's question, all without having to leave my messaging app.

Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com.