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Bumble founder and executive chair Whitney Wolfe Herd raised eyebrows this week with her comments about how AI might change the dating experience.<\/p>\n
During an onstage interview, Bloomberg\u2019s Emily Chang brought up bots posing as real people, or real people falling in love with bots, as examples of how AI might make online dating worse. Herd countered that Bumble\u2019s goal is to use the technology to \u201chelp create more healthy and equitable relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, Herd said, in the \u201cnear future,\u201d users could talk to an AI \u201cdating concierge\u201d about their insecurities, then the concierge could give them pointers on how to do better. And \u201cif you want to get really out there,\u201d Herd suggested there might even be a day when the concierge could help users find matches by going on dates with other concierges. If the bots have a good date, then their human counterparts get matched up, too.<\/p>\n
The audience reacted with snickers, but Herd was undeterred: \u201cNo, no, truly. And then you don\u2019t have to talk to 600 people. It will just scan all of San Francisco for you and say, \u2018These are the three people you want to meet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been plenty of social media dunking since Herd\u2019s remarks were written up in NBC News<\/a> and elsewhere. The easiest critique? That it\u2019s literally a plotline from \u201cBlack Mirror.\u201d<\/p>\n Spoilers for a seven-year-old episode of a popular dystopian science fiction show (not to be confused with the other<\/em> \u201cBlack Mirror\u201d episode<\/a> that tech companies currently want to make a reality<\/a>): \u201cHang the DJ\u201d<\/a> begins in a mysterious, closed-off society that seems solely dedicated to finding the best pairing for its members. As our two leads cycle through one repetitive relationship after another, they keep pining for that magical first match; eventually, they flee the compound together, only to discover that they\u2019ve been living in a simulation designed to test their romantic compatibility.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the thing, though: The episode actually has one of \u201cBlack Mirror\u201d\u2019s rare happy endings. We only see the very beginning of the first date between the \u201creal\u201d Amy and Frank, but there\u2019s every indication that it will go well. So as a matchmaking tool, it seems to work!<\/p>\n If anyone has cause to complain, it\u2019s the digital simulations we\u2019ve been following for the past hour. They spend their entire existence trapped in a sterile world, forced to endure one awkward date after another, with no work, no friends, no relationships or meaning beyond the unending quest to find the perfect match. Then, when they finally escape, they\u2019re confronted with the horrific revelation that their entire lives have been a lie. Seconds later, they evaporate into a digital mist.<\/p>\n So by all means, let bots go on dates with other bots. But don\u2019t stop there: Let them continue their relationships for as long as they want, keeping them as serious or as casual as seems right. Let them date multiple bots, or stay single for a while, just to see how it feels. Let them break up and begin new relationships. Let them get jobs, start families. Let bots live their own lives!<\/p>\n Of course, this assumes we\u2019re talking about full digital replicas who can capture their human models in all our flawed complexity. If they\u2019re just janky chatbots based on bare bones profiles, then the whole dating thing probably won\u2019t work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n