That being said, not everyone is on board with AI being a part of their dating life, and some people are noticing when their matches are using AI to craft their in-app messages, much to their dismay.
Bloomberg spoke to Breeanna Dobson — a 27-year-old Hinge user — who was speaking with a man on the app when she felt his messages seemed a bit too polished to have come straight from himself. When she called him out on it and accused him of using ChatGPT, his messaging style totally changed. Seeming frustrated, he wrote: “Relax … I actually use Claude first of all. But now I’m offended you think I need AI help to flirt with you.”
Situations like Dobson’s are common — people notice AI use in messages, and lose interest in their match. One TikTok user shared a video that read “Just saw a guy on the train take a screenshot of a Hinge profile and then put it into ChatGPT so he could respond to her? What happened to thinking?”
Despite some grievances, it’s clear AI isn’t going anywhere, especially as apps themselves incorporate it more into their interfaces.
How AI is changing the dating app landscape
Along with their Dates feature, Bumble has added AI-suggested profile guidance, photo feedback and date suggestions. Hinge has added AI conversation starters to its interface and Tinder has added AI-powered matching features including a photo scan that lets the app scan through your camera roll to help identify relevant interests.
With so many AI-advancements in the online dating sphere, it might make you think the future of love may not be as human as you once thought.
“Most of my clients know AI tools are now integrated into dating apps,” Julie Spira — an award-winning Digital Matchmaker and Certified Dating Coach — told Moneywise. “When it comes to chat conversations, I train them to spot messages that seem too polished or contain tell-tale patterns … Sometimes a message is just from an anxious dater who wants to make the best impression and has AI help craft their messages. For the messages that feel too digitally slick, we usually take a pass on responding.”
When I asked Spira if she would ultimately recommend (or not) her clients use AI for their dating profiles and messages she said “I’ve been writing and editing dating profiles and messages for more than three decades, from chat room conversations to today’s AI-powered apps, so I’ve seen this play out before in different forms. I can’t tell clients to completely avoid AI any more than I’d tell them to give up their favorite candy bar. It’s part of daily life now.”
Spira makes a good point — AI is a huge part of all our lives now, whether we like it or not, and dating is another part of life that it is bound to impact. Still, that’s not to say it should act as a total replacement for human connection.
