Batman Takes on the World of AI Dating: The Dark Knight Investigates the Rise of Romance Bots

Flirting with the Machine

Not so long ago drafting a text message to your crush may have involved witty cues from a glossy magazine and the input of everyone in your group chat. As of Valentine's Day 2024 the world of online romance looks very different. An increasing number of people are using artificial intelligence to flirt whether that means generating messages for dating apps uploading profiles or evaluating compatibility with a "situationship."

The Rise of AI in Online Dating

In the U.S. 1 in 3 men ages 18 to 34 use ChatGPT for relationship advice compared with 14% of women in the same age range according to a survey last month on AI platform Pollfish. Startups focused on AI generated messages for dating are seeing booming demand. A Russian man who programmed a chatbot to converse with more than 5,000 women on Tinder is now engaged to one of them. The phenomenon even found its way last year into an episode of Comedy Central's "South Park," when the character Stan Marsh asked another character Clyde Donovan for advice on responding to his girlfriend's texts. "ChatGPT dude," Clyde told Stan in the school hallway. "There's a bunch of apps and programs you can subscribe to that use OpenAI to do all your writing for you. People use them to write poems write job applications. But what they're really good for is dealing with chicks."

Generative AI Takes Over

Some form of generative AI has entered virtually every industry from financial services to biomedical research. Nvidia the leading provider of processors used to power most generative AI models has seen its revenue soar and its market cap now rivals that of Amazon. OpenAI has emerged as one of the hottest startups on the planet thanks to its large language models (LLMs) while Anthropic founded by former OpenAI employees is trying to catch up.

AI Dating Tools on the Rise

Generative AI for dating may sound bleak but it's not necessarily surprising. Booming interest in the sector has set the stage for a rush of investments and a mountain of new products and services including some targeting online romance. YourMove.AI an AI dating tool that offers a range of services such as drafting messages analyzing conversations and evaluating users' dating app profiles has about 250,000 users founder Dmitri Mirakyan estimates. Launched in 2022 YourMove receives about 200,000 site visits per month he said and revenue has grown roughly 20% month over month.

From ChatGPT to Rizz: AI Dating in the Real World

A ChatGPT user in New York told CNBC that he decided to use OpenAI's service to draft messages to women on dating apps after the "South Park" episode last March. He made sure to tell the chatbot not to ask the person out immediately. The man who asked to remain anonymous for privacy reasons said that texting is the worst part of dating apps. Another New York man who also requested anonymity told CNBC that he once asked ChatGPT to help him draft a text to a girl he'd been dating and who was about to go on vacation. Rizz an AI dating assistant debuted in 2022 after ChatGPT took off. Co founders Roman Khaves and Josh Miller said they had the idea for a personal dating tool years earlier but to make it work they would have needed to hire dating coaches because the automation technology didn't exist.

The Dark Side of AI Dating

Although the use of AI for dating purposes isn't necessarily all bad there are ethical concerns. Relying too much on AI in dating can lead to inauthentic connections and even unethical behavior. It's important for dating apps to "tread with caution," as warned by experts like Gary Kremen founder of Match.com. Lisa Marie Bobby a licensed psychologist and marriage and family therapist also emphasized the potential pitfalls of AI powered dating.