“Are you dating a bot?!” Swiping right on A.I.
Online dating has changed the game for many people, 320 million to be exact (Statista, 2020). More couples than ever are now reporting to have met their partners online through mobile dating applications such as Bumble, Hinge, Grindr and the most popular of all, Tinder (Statista, 2020). Among Tinder users, however, it appears that men receive disproportionately fewer matches than women do (Timmermans & Courtois, 2018).
Subsequently, many have turned their attentions to artificial intelligence as a way to optimise their dating experiences and find ‘the one’. Programs such as Tinderbox, later renamed to Bernie A.I., provide automated swiping bots which predict the user’s preferences through their previous swiping history and use this to swipe on their behalf. The app also allows further customizations to be made, such as programming the bot to engage in initial conversation with successful matches as a sure-fire way to gather interest before partaking in human-to-human interactions.
But as predicted the moral implications surrounding these are plenty. First on the list, is a matter of consent. Using photographs of individuals to enable machine learning, without their knowledge, raises great concerns for data privacy. If accessed by a third party, the database collating personal data could pose as a severe threat to users of the app, by disclosing their profile and sexual orientation to unwanted individuals.
Second is a matter of disclosure. The authenticity of conversations enabled by ‘concierge’ chatbots, is questionable to say the least. The scripted nature of such interactions, is comparable only to a West End performance, with stage actors reusing the same dialogues to entertain a different audience each night.
Another point to note, is the deceptive element of using A.I. to distance oneself from the labours of a good conversation. By reducing ‘matches’ and the people behind them to mere success rates, concierge bots eliminate the very shreds of humanity that make it possible for us to find a meaningful connection online.
In our search for lasting love, have we traversed deep into a path that denies us the very object that we set out to achieve?
Turkle (2017) affirms this shifting culture in her book Alone Together, by arguing that as a society, we have become increasingly “drawn to the comfort of connection without the demands of intimacy” (p.10). This in turn, has had implications on our very understanding of intimacy, as we learn to expect less from relationships, despite craving a great deal more. Supporting this, Coduto (2019) argues for there to be a ‘yearning for really natural connections, meeting through friends, meeting through your environment’ despite the pervasive use of online dating apps. So, does this mean that we are merely settling for less when it comes to romantic relationships?
Turkle (2017) would argue yes, as she describes modern-day teenage fantasies of ditching the uncertainties of human romantic pursuits, for solace in the arms of a robot. Whilst Alone Together makes a valid point to consider, I cannot help but wonder the extent to which Turkle’s concerns regarding robotic technology are reflective of our daily realities? Although humanoid interference in the dating sphere, may not be as pervasive as the covert use of automated swipers and concierge bots, the growing involvement of AI within this area is definitely not one to be underestimated.
References:
CrackpotVeggies. Automating Tinder with Artificial Intelligence. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from: https://crockpotveggies.com/2016/07/26/automate-tinder-artificial-intelligence.html
Hwang. A. “I’ve become so good at dating — relationships that used to take months now last a matter of days” [Image]. Pinterest. URL: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/523332419184843594/
Mashable. (2020, January 31). Inside the future of online dating: AI swiping and concierge bots [Blog Post]. Retrieved from: https://mashable.com/article/tinder-hack-bot-ai-dating/?europe=true
Pumika. Valentine’s Day [GIF]. Dribbble. URL: https://dribbble.com/shots/2524851-Happy-Valentine-s-Day
Statista. (2020). Most popular online dating apps in the United States as of September 2019, by audience size. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/statistics/826778/most-popular-dating-apps-by-audience-size-usa/#:~:text=As%20of%20September%202019%2C%20Tinder,5.03%20million%20U.S.%20mobile%20users.
Statista. (2020). Online Dating. Retrieved from: https://www.statista.com/outlook/372/100/online-dating/worldwide
Timmermans, E., & Courtois, C. (2018). From swiping to casual sex and/or committed relationships: Exploring the experiences of Tinder users. The Information Society, 34(2), 59–70.
Turkle, S. (2017). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. Hachette UK.
Yang. J. Swiping with AI [Image]. Dribbble. URL: https://dribbble.com/shots/10398140-Swiping-with-AI
