Tinder wants to fix dating apps with AI
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Tinder on Thursday announced new AI and non-AI powered features in an effort to connect with Gen Z singletons.
Why it matters: Users increasingly struggle to tell the difference between real connections and the bots.
- Dating apps are now using AI to fix a problem technology helped create.
The big picture: Tinder's new updates include a speed dating experience and an AI feature to assess potential chemistry.
What they're saying: "With more than half our users under 30, we're building alongside a generation that wants dating to feel more authentic, lower-pressure and worth their time," Spencer Rascoff, Match Group and Tinder CEO, said in a statement.
- "We're using AI to surface more relevant connections."
Driving the news: Photo-verified users can join scheduled, virtual speed dating events starting this spring.
- The events will involve three-minute video chats "with the option to add more time and connect with multiple matches in real time," the company said.
Between the lines: If speed dating is a blast from the past, AI chemistry tests are a glimpse into the future — namely, the one from "Her."
- "Instead of endlessly Liking profiles, users will get a daily curated recommendation based on what actually makes you, you," the company said of the feature, which has already been rolled out in Australia and New Zealand.
- "Using a Q&A and optional features like Camera Roll Scan, we get a better sense of your personality, your vibe, and what matters to you."
- The scan will also help users discover "photo insights" based on patterns in their camera rolls.
Other new features include an "events" mode to discover in-person events, an "astrology mode" allowing users to add their birth details, and a learning mode that "continuously gathers feedback to surface more relevant recommendations earlier."
- The company is launching improved safety measures as well, including an "are you sure?" feature alerting users "to potentially harmful language before they hit send."
Zoom out: As they struggle to maintain users, dating apps such as Bumble and Grindr are also investing in AI.
Zoom in: Users are also deploying AI, mirroring the increasingly popular bot vs. bot world of the web.
- Chatbots can suggest witty messaging banter, alter photos and write bios and pick-up lines.
By the numbers: A survey last year from Match and researchers at the Kinsey Institute found that 26% of U.S. singles reported using AI to enhance dating — up 333% from the year before.
- 6 in 10 people who use dating apps believe they've encountered at least one conversation written by AI, per a study from Norton.
The bottom line: It's getting more and more likely that AI is third-wheeling your online romance.
