Agentic AI apps first interview you and then give you limited matches selected for ‘similarity and reciprocity of personality’

Dating apps exploit you, dating profiles lie to you, and sex is basically something old people used to do. You might as well consider it: can AI help you find love?

For a handful of tech entrepreneurs and a few brave Londoners, the answer is “maybe”.

No, this is not a story about humans falling in love with sexy computer voices – and strictly speaking, AI dating of some variety has been around for a while. Most big platforms have integrated machine learning and some AI features into their offerings over the past few years.

But dreams of a robot-powered future – or perhaps just general dating malaise and a mounting loneliness crisis – have fuelled a new crop of startups that aim to use the possibilities of the technology differently.

Jasmine, 28, was single for three years when she downloaded the AI-powered dating app Fate. With popular dating apps such as Hinge and Tinder, things were “repetitive”, she said: the same conversations over and over.

“I thought, why not sign up, try something different? It sounded quite cool using, you know, agentic AI, which is where the world is going now, isn’t it?”

Is there anything we can’t outsource?

  • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
    2·
    9 hours ago

    I have thoughts on this, but your mileage will definitely vary.

    I met my first wife on OKCupid in 2004. We were something like a 97% match. And, indeed, we shared politics, musical tastes, geeky senses of humour … it felt like the algorithm had done its job. We got married in 2007. We got divorced in 2010.

    But before meeting her, there was another one. Just weeks earlier. She shot me down, and I accepted that.

    Without realizing I was attempting to connect with the same woman for a second time, I reached out to her new profile. She’s the sort of manic-pixie alt type that has no problems finding guys. And I am decidedly average in looks. She was a 34% match.

    And yet … I didn’t wake up in my first wife’s bed last month.

    I personally believe in soulmates, but I don’t think the concept is usually construed correctly. It’s not how it’s popularly portrayed; rather, it’s a matter of feeling incomplete without that body against you. I’m not sure my life has been improved by that knowledge.