Contributed by: kellyseal on Friday, May 03 2024 @ 04:01 pm
Last modified on Friday, May 03 2024 @ 04:03 pm
AI and chatbots are changing how we date, as well as how we use dating apps.
According to a new report in Times of India, as well as a report from Business Insider, singles are gravitating more to AI features, including using them to craft messages and profiles, analyze relationships, and even finding virtual girlfriends and boyfriends via realistic chatbots. (In some cases, dating apps that are AI-based can send chatbots in the likeness of the user out on dates with chatbots of other users and report back how the date went – in other words, the chatbots do the heavy lifting.)
The Business Insider[*1] report conducted an experiment where its reporter set up her chatbot and it went on a date. The conversation with her date’s chatbot was sent to her via the app so she could read the exchange. She noted that her chatbot got some of the answers she would have said right, and others wrong. (For example, the chatbot said she loved pineapple on pizza. In fact, she’d never tried it).
Despite the glitches, people are gravitating to these apps and hoping to find real human love in a more efficient, AI-filtered way.
But others are looking for a dating experience without humans at all.
According to Times of India[*2] , young people are also seeking virtual girlfriends and boyfriends, bypassing the human element altogether, sometimes for thousands of dollars per month. Greg Isinberg, a WeWork co-founder, posted on X that he’d met a 24 year-old man who paid $10,000 a month for his AI girlfriend, and that someone will build the “AI-version of Match Group.” He added that the AI-generated models “are starting to look freakishly real to me.”
Still, the majority of singles are looking for real human connection, but just need a little help from AI.
ChatGPT ushered in a new wave of interest from dating app users, who turned to the platform to help them craft bios and messages to potential matches. This practice has become so commonplace that dating app users aren’t certain what was written by a person compared to a bot. (Studies show that despite the preference for actual human communication, people tend to prefer the writing and photo selection of bots.)
Apps like Rizz have also taken off, offering daters AI-generated pick-up lines when trying to land a match, as well as helping them with messaging.
Business Insider points out that even though the dating app industry saw a drop in revenue in 2023, it’s still huge, with “global revenue reaching $3.5 billion by 2028,” and dating apps are fast adding AI-based features to attract new users. The reporter added: “for better or worse, AI is going to be part of our love lives.”