Bumble Founder Explains How AI Dating Will Improve the Odds of People Finding Love Online
As social media makes it easier to meet new people and dating apps are opening a digital window for couples to mingle, dating has ironically become more difficult in the connected era. As per a study published by the Pew Research Center, 46% of the present generation believes that finding a partner has become more difficult in comparison to the past. Bumble has emerged as one of the most popular dating apps across the globe, and its founder Whitney Wolfe Herd has a solution for all the souls wanting to find partners but do not have enough time on their hands. As per the New York Post, she says that the future of dating might involve AI being representative of an individual and going on dates with AI avatars of other representatives. Considering the breakthroughs AI tools have made in recent years, it might not be a far-fetched idea.
The idea was presented to the public at The Bloomberg Technology Summit, but since then Herd has stepped down from the CEO position. The app has already looked into incorporating technology that makes it easy for people to narrow down their choices and also helps users with interaction. As far as the AI concierge is concerned, Wolfe believes it is a huge possibility for dating in the near future. “There is a world where your dating concierge could go and date for you, with another dating concierge,” Wolfe Herd said according to The Independent. Her opinion is that if AI can pull off the writing and diagnosis, it can definitely be made capable of dating. Wolfe adds, “Then you don’t have to talk to 600 people. It will go scan all of San Francisco for you and say, ‘These are the three people you really ought to meet.’ That’s the power of AI when harnessed the right way.”
Dating fatigue is an issue that the matchmaking industry has been tackling for a while. Hinge CEO Justin McLeod revealed in an interview with the Financial Times that he believes two things are behind this phenomenon. “One is that you are overwhelmed: there’s so much activity, and so many people, and everyone starts to look the same, and conversations are dying,” he explained. The second one is that the present dating scene does not encourage commitment, as people move on very quickly, leaving the other person disappointed with the lack of reciprocation. “At the other end of the spectrum, a lot of users get very, very little activity. They burn out because they’re trying to get that match, and they send a lot of likes, but then they’re not even getting enough [reciprocal] activity to go on one date," McLeod explained.
The inclusion of AI can help people skip all of the turmoil and embarrassment present in the dating scene. It can analyze who is interested and inform the user accordingly. “You could share your insecurities [with the dating concierge],” Wolfe Herd explained. "'I just came out of a breakup. I have commitment issues.’ And it could help you train yourself into a better way of thinking about yourself. And then it could give you productive tips for communicating with other people."