How AI matchmakers, virtual pickup lines and other ChatGPT-like tools are taking over online dating

Technician

From Tommaso Barrabi

July 16, 2023 | 11:27

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the landscape of many businesses, but can technology really help someone find true love?

Several entrepreneurial matchmakers are betting that it can, enlisting AI to help tongue-tied romantics break the ice with witty banter, virtual dating coaches and even erotic pillow talk.

A Snapchat influencer, Caryn Marjorie, recently created an AI clone of herself using ChatGPT that engages potential boyfriends in conversations ranging from basic small talk to more advanced discussions about exploring each other’s bodies all night long for a fee of $1 per minute.

On a larger level, a new dating site has created a virtual dating coach named Lora who helps the Romeos avoid the possible pitfalls of courting their Juliets.

Lora will write, I know you like parties and noise. But for the first date, I suggest taking her somewhere quiet, going for a walk in the park, taking her to a restaurant or a cafe or something like that, because she wants you to get to know her better, Lior said. Baruch, the CEO of A-Love.

A would-be rival, Teaser AI, hit the Apple App Store last month with a chatbot that handles the initial conversation stage of online dating though the app warns users in advance that it might say some crazy things.

Another app, YourMove AI, generates one-liners and other witty banter such as responding to someone who said they totally love a particular movie by saying, actually, I thought you were the star of the show.

The concept of an AI-powered experience is already generating healthy skepticism among dating experts with some arguing that virtual coaches or pickup artists will ultimately make it even harder for people to find genuine connections.

It’s an aid, not a substitute, said a prominent online dating influencer and content creator, who requested anonymity to freely discuss the industry’s adoption of AI features.

I think the danger in using AI as a coach to tell you how to behave is that it removes the human element of who you are, which is invaluable. That’s what makes someone interesting. added the influencer. What happens after you start dating after a few months and can’t sustain that level of conversation because it wasn’t natural?

Despite some red flags, there are signs that many singles, especially younger ones, are clamoring for automated dating features.

A whopping 53 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 say they’ve used a dating site or app, according to a February survey by the Pew Research Center, with Tinder, Bumble and Hinge as the most popular options.

Mentions of ChatGPT have increased 14-fold since January 1, according to a report on the future of dating released in May by popular dating app Tinder. The same report found that 34% of 18-25 year olds on Tinder said they would use AI dating tools if they were available.

Baruch, a tech entrepreneur based in Israel, plans to release an app called Mee+ in the US this fall that features his AI matchmaker, an automated model trained on data from about 1,500 studies that have explored the nature of romantic relationships.

To create the algorithm that powers Mee+, the team used research studies to compile a set of 20 predictors that best determine whether two individuals can work as a pair. Lora uses the predictors, as well as each user’s answers to a series of questions, to build a kind of psychological profile that will dictate what kind of matches and dating advice the AI ​​dispenses.

In a closed beta test of the technology conducted in Israel, more than half of the 25,000 participants have been on dates and nearly 200 are already engaged or married, according to Baruch, who said the algorithm will only get better as it gathers more information about what works and what not

Established dating sites like Bumble, Tinder, and Hinge have been using AI in some aspects for years, but they’re taking a more cautious approach than their freewheeling peers in the startup world.

A Tinder spokesperson declined to comment specifically on future tools that could appear in the app, but said the company is exploring ways to incorporate AI as a kind of virtual dating coach that would help users create your own profiles.

We don’t want people to start using AI in a way that just looks like generic, bot-like profiles, the spokesperson said. We want to help people discover the right things to say about themselves and then match with the right people and ultimately go on dates in real life.

Tinder offers AI features like its bothering you? tool, which automatically flags potentially offensive messages. The AI ​​improvements will help the tool better understand the context rather than simply tracking banned keywords.

Bumble has placed a strong emphasis on AI-powered security features, such as photo verification and a private detector, released in 2019, that automatically detects and blurs nude images.

Newer tools include Best Photo, which helps Bumble users select the right profile picture to find more matches, and Best Bees, which purportedly uses an improved algorithm to provide a more curated group of compatible matches.

We see more opportunities to further integrate AI into our user journey, as this is just the tip of the iceberg in using AI to improve our care and the quality of the connections we make, a spokeswoman for Bumble Fang Crowley.

Both companies say they are focused on ensuring that any tool prioritizes user safety and leads to real-world connections rather than a sterile online conversation between two AI bots.

For years, we’ve leveraged AI in our apps, across security, content moderation, our recommendations engine, and our personalization and monetization efforts, Crowley said.

These findings have had a real impact on the user experience as we continue to encourage our members to foster genuine connections they can build in real life, he added.