The practice of dating continued to evolve over the last decade. Gone are the days of personal ads, speed dating, and blind dates (unless you get a specific app for that).
Thanks to dating apps, single people can choose from a wider pool of potentials and get in touch more easily than ever. It's the efficient way of dating, and like it or not, dating apps are the future of romance. Over the last decade, Tinder and its unique "hot or not" swiping technique have been mentioned in stand-up comedy, late-night talk shows, and just about every friend group on the face of the earth.
Over the years, Match Group (MTCH) has become the biggest name in the industry thanks to the acquisition of various dating apps to add to its service library. In 2019, Match Group bought Tinder for a whopping $1.9 billion. Today, the company owns Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, and more. Other apps like Bumble (BMBL) and the gay dating app Grindr (GRND) are blazing other unique trails through the market.
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Unfortunately, like many social connection services that work through web services, online dating consumers have to be wary of scams. And thanks to the OkCupid dating app, we now know that the AI service ChatGPT could provide the company (and its users) some potential benefits -- and risks.
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OkCupid Experiments with ChatGPT Service
Match Group subsidiary OkCupid has started testing the capabilities of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. First, the company tested the chatbot’s function by asking it to generate questions users answer to help the app’s algorithm properly match them. The answers typically cover things like daily lifestyle and personal religious, moral, and political beliefs.
Last month, the app began asking users how they felt about the service. Soon after, the company let ChatGPT generate some of the algorithmic introductory questions -- the questions have now been answered by more than 15,000 users, encouraging OkCupid to let ChatGPT generate more questions in the future.
But the company isn't only looking at the positive implications of incorporating AI into a dating app. There are plenty of concerns that ChatGPT and similar services could be used for a more malicious purpose.
Dishonesty, Disconnection, and Dating Fraud
"Catfishing" is the term for fraud committed using an online romantic connection. Michael Kaye, associate director of Global Communications at OkCupid has discouraged users from using AI to chat with other users, but the company hasn't had to put any policy in place to prevent it.
According to in-app responses, roughly 7 in 10 users feel that using AI to message people or create a profile is dishonest. Kaye has also stated that “I think these AI tools are really helpful when it comes to product features and moderations on our platform, but I don’t necessarily see AI playing a more significant role when it comes to fostering relationships, building personal relationships or even romance between people,” Kaye said.
Still, McAfee data recently revealed that almost one-third of daters plan to or are currently using AI to write their dating profiles. The same source also found that over two-thirds of daters couldn't tell the difference between a love letter written by a human or an AI chatbot. But while the new technology is still in its infancy, companies like OkCupid that take a proactive approach to its use may be able to provide users with additional safeguards and benefits as the tech evolves.
