Dating app maker Bumble is venturing into generative AI. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday, Bumble introduced a new AI assistant it’s calling “Bee,” designed to become a personal matchmaker that learns users’ “values, relationship goals, communication style, lifestyle, and dating intentions” through private chats. It then uses those insights to help find the user more relevant matches.
Currently, Bee is in the pilot phase and being tested internally, founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd told investors, but it’s launching into beta soon.
With Bee, the company envisions being able to capture much more information about Bumble users, as it learns more about each individual’s story and what they really want. This could differentiate Bumble’s app from others like Tinder, which also just underwent an overhaul as the dating app market has fizzled with Gen Z users.
Bumble says users will interact with Bee much like they do with other AI chatbots, through typing and speaking in a more conversational style.
Image Credits:Bumble
Initially, Bee will be used to power a new dating experience, called “Dates,” that uses AI to recommend matches; but in the future, Bumble says Bee will move into other areas, like offering date suggestions or requesting anonymous feedback from your prior matches.
In “Dates,” Bee will first learn about the user through a private, onboarding conversation. It then identifies two people who have shared intentions, values, and relationship goals. Both users are notified in the app with a description of why they make a great match.
The addition is part of a broader tech and AI-focused overhaul of the dating app, which to date has marketed itself as more focused on women’s needs. The company pioneered features like the “women message first,” body-shaming bans, and tools that blurred unsolicited explicit images, among others.
Image Credits:Bumble
Now, it’s looking to use AI to return to user growth amid a dating market that sees younger users, particularly Gen Z, growing tired of the swipe.
... continue reading