Are you sick of writing dating profiles? Or are you sick and tired of stealing? Are dating apps really no good for you? Let a digital companion take care of the effort.
While user fatigue may be increasing (reports suggest a notable decline in usage), the world’s largest online dating company is launching an AI assistant that it claims will “transform” online dating .
Match Group, the technology company with the world’s largest portfolio of dating platforms, has announced that it is increasing investment in artificial intelligence with new products arriving in March 2025.
An as-yet-unnamed AI assistant will perform basic dating tasks, such as selecting the photos it estimates will get the most responses and recommending what prompts and information to include in a bio. It will also help the user to choose the perfect partner.
The AI will conduct a spoken interview with the user to establish what they want to get out of their dating experience and will suggest what messages to send to people they match based on their interests.
The company has also said that the AI will provide “effective training for struggling users,” including advice for people who aren’t getting matches on how to attract more attention to their profile.
Bernard Kim, CEO of Match Group, told investors this month that focusing on AI would be the start of a new phase at the company called “AI transformation.”
“This technology is revolutionary for dating and we are bringing it to life across our portfolio. I imagine AI will be felt throughout the entire experience, influencing everything from profile creation to matching and connecting for dates, literally everything.”
An Ofcom report last month showed dating app usage was down from last year, with the two main apps owned by Match Group, Tinder and Hinge, between them losing almost 750,000 subscribers in the UK.
Gary Swidler, president and chief financial officer of Match Group, said AI would streamline the dating experience and that the company was investing in the technology now so its benefits would “unfold over time” for investors and users.
“There is a lot of information that AI can extract from another person’s profile and offer help to greatly improve the matchmaking process and the post-match process: you get greater efficiency because you put in less effort and you get better results. “
However, the technology is not without criticism. Anastasiia Babash, PhD candidate and junior researcher at the University of Tartu in Estonia, and member of the international organization Ethical Dating Online. projecthas said that increased reliance on AI in dating could be detrimental to people’s ability to interact without it.
“There is a risk that users who rely on AI in their love lives could experience increased dependence on the technology and a decrease in their personal agency. If people start relying on AI to handle their conversations with potential dates, there is a risk that the ability to engage in real, spontaneous conversations will be lost and ultimately make it more difficult for people to make genuine connections.”
Babash also questions whether companies, including large multinationals like Match Group, can be trusted to safeguard the immense amount of data they collect and use to train their algorithms, or to eliminate the data bias issues that have been prevalent in the past. AI projects in the past. .
“Dating apps are constantly collecting more personal data to improve their matchmaking and interactions. This constant data collection raises significant concerns about data privacy and security. Many users may not fully understand the extent of the data being collected or how it is used, putting them at risk of data misuse or hacking.
“Furthermore, AI systems used in dating apps often rely on data that reflects existing biases. “If these biases are not addressed, AI could reinforce stereotypes or even discriminate against certain groups based on factors such as race, gender or socioeconomic status.”
Faye Iosotaluno, CEO of Tinder, said the company had taken a careful approach to AI in relation to how it handles data, but was committed to bringing it into the mainstream.
“I think it has the potential to really revolutionize the way users interact. “We want to be very thoughtful about it.”