Now Infiltrating Dating Apps: AI

If dating wasn't hard enough, AI has quite literally entered the chat. NBC News reports that people are now using artificial intelligence to flirt and send messages on dating apps to unsuspecting prospects. Now that singles must worry if they're being catfished by a robot in real time, many are wondering what the trend means for online dating.

• Thanks, South Park? Some users are pointing to a 2023 episode for giving them the idea. On it, a character told another to use ChatGPT to find the right responses to a girlfriend's texts, saying what the platforms are "really good for is dealing with chicks."

• It's not just AI filling in the blanks on dating profiles and messages—people are relying on chatbots to interpret their love lives. Per NBC, a survey by Pollfish found that 1 in 3 men between the ages 18 to 34 use ChatGPT for relationship advice (only 14% of women in that range are doing the same).
• Tech specifically designed to serve as a virtual dating coach is also emerging, including Rizz, YourMove, and Amori. The latter can evaluate relationships with efficiency by interpreting all your correspondence. "A friend is not going to be able to read thousands of text messages for you," says founder Alex Weitzman.
• Futurism highlights a pitfall to letting AI run the show—potentially ghosting the people you're courting. One user's bot forgot to tell him a date was planned, but kept messaging the girl he stood up that he was on his way.
• Editors over at Wired took dating app Volar on a chatbot test drive, but the conversation quickly veered into strange territory (unless, that is, you find nuclear warfare dreamy).

• Mashable asks if the turn to AI officially hammers a nail in the coffin for romance. Dating experts say AI can help those who stumble in the game, but authenticity is at risk—and using it to create a persona or profile is "counterintuitive when it comes to building intimacy in person," as sexologist Emilie Lavinia warns.

So what's ChatGPT make of all this? We sent a query, asking if it was OK to woo someone using a chatbot. Here's the response: "Engaging people with a chatbot for wooing purposes should prioritize transparency, respect for privacy, and ethical considerations while obtaining explicit consent and ensuring human oversight to maintain empathy and sensitivity in interactions." (More artificial intelligence stories.)