Online dating apps have become a leading way to meet romantic partners, turning dating from an in-person experience into an often tedious, touchscreen-focused exercise.
And with the advent of generative AI, that bleak landscape of modern dating is continuing to evolve in dystopian — and perhaps predictable — ways.
As the Washington Post reports, a 31-year-old named Richard Wilson was startled when his date "had none of the conversational pizzazz she had shown over text."
Her messages had included "long, multi-paragraph messages" and acknowledgments of "each of his points." But in person she lacked those conversational chops, and when she mentioned that she used ChatGPT "all the time" for work, the pieces started to fall into place for Wilson.
It's not just individual users writing romantic messages using AI; online dating companies are also stuffing the tech into their apps.
Firms like Match Group, which owns industry stalwarts such as Hinge and Tinder, are releasing new features to summarize dating profiles, suggest ways to maximize the number of matches, and flag unwanted messages.
Some apps go as far as to suggest "icebreaker" opening lines, drawing criticism and even scrutiny from regulators.
We've also come across apps that use AI to harass women, or create videos of people kissing without their consent. Earlier this year, the Financial Times reported that a woman's recent date had used ChatGPT to write a psychological profile on her.
Last year, Gizmodo reported on a Moscow-based man who programmed OpenAI's GPT large language models to talk to well over 5,000 women on his behalf — and eventually meet his future wife.
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd made headlines after saying that she believes the future of dating will involve having your personal AI "dating concierge" talk to hundreds of other AIs to find a perfect match.
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