So, you’re on a blind date with someone. You’re nervous, a bit awkward, a bit shy, your date can see you’re sweating. You don’t know what to say. Your date seems to be losing interest. Lucky for you, your wingperson is there for you. They tell you exactly what to say. And boom! Suddenly, you’re charming again. Now, your date is smiling. Now, your date is interested. You go to high-five your wingperson, but wait, they’re not human. It’s an AI.
Yep, it’s one of those generative AI tools that’s been gaining traction since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was released to the public in the second half of 2022. And why not? Generative AI has proven it can answer questions, write poetry and create song lyrics, conjure up rap verses and tell you jokes about animals, among other things. So, if it can do all those things, why shouldn’t it be allowed to help you find love?
Before OpenAI had its market dominance, AI was being used in other interesting ways. AI was, also, being used to identify some common facial features in users’ profile pics based on people having swapped left or right to figure out what their type is. But, that could be a problem, because many people blindly swipe left or right, based on their mood, so this could skew the results. AI could, also, catch some objects in images based on who a person has swiped left or right. This could be a pet, guitar, sunset or a beach setting. For example, Tinder is using Amazon Rekognition to catch some personality markers to improve matching algorithms. And for some creepy folks out there, some AI dating apps, like Badoo, could try to get you partners, who look like your favourite celebrity crushes, be it Chris Hemsworth or Margot Robbie or Hrithik Roshan or Vidya Balan or more.
Before, you’d give prompts to generative AI. Now, generative AI could give you prompts to talk to someone you like. Imagine if it’s there to help you respond to messages belonging to someone you matched with on online dating apps, like Tinder or Bumble. Or if you’ve heard about ChatGPT writing letters to be hired or resignation letters, maybe, it could be used to help you break up with someone. This would make AI your talking middleperson, in a way. If you comb your hair, wash up, put on makeup and more, surely, your dating skills ought to be spruced up. And why not take the assistance of a superintelligent machine?
It’s not just generative AI that’s getting into romance. In April 2023, it was reported that Tinder would be releasing an AI-powered update to its Photo Verification Feature, so that users can confirm that they’re humans and not bots or catfishers. But, one should, also, keep in mind that AI also has the power to change people’s photos and create fake personas and touch up people in ways that make them look completely different online. Users would have to do some video prompts and then AI would match the person in those prompts as the person in the profile photo, using 3D mapping of someone’s facial geometry. And if you’re lazy or busy, you have something like CupidBot, which would swipe left or right on your behalf. But, what about the darker aspects of dating? Dating starts with meeting a stranger. So, there’s always the risk of s*xual assault. An Oakland University researcher is working on algorithms to protect users from such a situation by promoting discussions on consent, identifying potential violence through keywords and more to detect red flags in conversations, which would augment user safety.
But, it’s not like AI can help dating apps only. It can help to date without the dating app aspect. After the COVID-19 pandemic, people’s social skills have been dampened, so AIs, like Key AI, can be virtual conversation coaches helping you suggest messages to improve conversations, reschedule dates, suggest activities based on common interests and preferences & more. And VR could help people practice flirting before going on a date in AI-generated VR environments. And once the dating begins, you could have virtual dates with your partner. Bored of the restaurants that seem similar? Prefer the Eiffel Tower? Or the sands of Seychelles? Or thinking about being on the gondolas of Venice? Or the romantic traffic of Bengaluru? With AR and VR, all of that is virtually possible. It’s not just headsets, there can also be haptic gloves, so you could, kind of, hold hands in these virtual destinations. These dates could ameliorate your romance, when you don’t have time to meet each other and a video call doesn’t seem to suffice. And if you’re missing your partner and they’re unavailable, why not go on a virtual date with an AI version of your date? Because with audio snippets, an AI-generated date based on the likeness of your partner could be formed with a realistic voice. No worrying issues there at all.
Here’s another initiative that AI can have that may raise your eyebrows is something called DNA matchmaking, where your DNA is used to find potential matches. By using genetic code, the idea is that personality types could be matched using AI.
Maybe, you feel like you need to be with someone for 1 minute. With one development, you can have that for $1 (about 83 rupees). This is through a 1-minute virtual interaction with a girl and that girl is actually an AI chatbot made by GPT-4 API tech. This is based on 23-year-old social media influencer Caryn Marjorie, who has about 2 million followers on Snapchat. Realizing how she never has time to talk to her fans and having a majority male fan base, Caryn launched “CarynAI”. For $1 a minute, you get an immersive AI experience. That being said, the AI has engaged in s*xually explicit conversations with some subscribers, though the AI was not programmed to do this.
All of this raises a lot of important concerns. Appearances are already so varnished. Then, social media allows for filters. And now, AI can make people more artificial. So, if people use AI to send messages to each other and to make people interesting, who are you really in love with: the person or the AI? Could this create more superficialness in dating and romance? And if you hang out with the AI version of your date, what happens if you break up? Would the AI be deleted? Could some bad actors keep the AI version alive, thereby infringing on the privacy it’s modelled after? It’s the same issue if an AI is made based on a celebrity. That could allow for too much infringement of someone’s personal space. And could AI have some bias in its algorithms when in use for dating apps? And if the AI models need to be fed a lot of personal information, can there be worries about privacy leaks? Relationships are inherently intimate, so that information would be out there. And could there be potential for deepfake abuse, where fake videos or images would be generated using AI? Is leveraging AI to tackle loneliness and foster an artificial sense of romance and companionship a good thing or a bad thing? Does this create more disconnectedness among human beings? Does this stretch the simulation of human connection? If AI is the middleperson between you and your date, how connected are you with your partner? Do you want AI in your relationship? Will this be the future of love and dating? Is AI making everything less awkward and making relationships more seamless? Would you be completely divorced from your partner when you’re in a relationship with them?
