Tinder is about to release a feature that uses artificial intelligence to select your best, most appealing photos.
It’s called Tinder’s AI Photo Selector, and has just launched in the US. We in the UK shouldn’t have too long to wait, though, as it’s expected to arrive elsewhere this summer.
This is potentially a much more useful feature than you may guess, too.
It doesn’t just pick the lead image from the photos you upload. The idea is the AI Photo Selector looks through your photo library to pick the 10 images it thinks will do well on a dating profile.
First up, you feed the app a picture of you, so it can tell you apart from other people in your photo library.
It will then rifle through your library, or the selection you give it access to, in order to pick recommended photos to add. Group pictures will be filtered out automatically.
“This selection is based on what we’ve learned makes for a good profile photo, like lighting, composition, and more,” says Tinder.
While this sounds like it could be a data-scraping privacy nightmare, Tinder claims it does not benefit from any of the data in your photo library.
“Tinder doesn't collect, store, access or otherwise receive any biometrics generated from your selfie video, profile photo, or photos on your camera roll,” it said.
“Everything takes place entirely on your device, and all biometric data used as part of this feature is deleted from your device once you exit the feature.”
Instead, this is likely a tactic to try to get people to return to Tinder, clinging to the hope a little AI might give them a better chance at success.
According to reporting by TechCrunch, paying users of Tinder decreased by nine per cent over the past year, comparing the first quarter of 2024 to the same period a year before.
It had 10 million paid subscribers in early 2024, but other apps including Hinge are eating into its market share.
However, those two big names in app-based dating are all owned by the same parent company, Match Group. It’s a behemoth that’s home to apps through the ages, including Plenty of Fish, Match, OkCupid and others.
