AI-powered dating is just hype. IRL travel is the future

I, admittedly, Great flirtation. I love everything about exchanging knowledge of another person. Creepy prank. Dopamine rush. The sexual subtlety and subtext of everything left unsaid. To me, flirting remains one of the last human endeavors in which people intentionally try to find common ground. It is pure possibility, absolute magnetism. It’s also an art that can’t be faked, or perfected by AI, despite Silicon Valley’s best attempts.

This, of course, hasn’t stopped Big Dating from getting into virtual intimacy this year, as the focus has shifted from endless swipes to AI-powered matchmaking. As the narrative around dating burnout reaches new heights, the trend toward honest communication has been an overdue correction by an industry that, over the past decade, has built itself on ruthless scale, obsessive ambition, and profit incentives, only to realize that the answer has been in front of them all along: You profit by investing in people.

Integrating AI tools wasn’t just about keeping up with the Joneses or leaning toward new innovations (although it was that). He was some of that). For once it was more than just talk: the senior date was seeking forgiveness for her sins.

Where dating apps once conspired to retain users by any means, AI has presented an opportunity to connect people faster, and perhaps forever. It has prompted many companies to rethink their user experience. According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center a few years ago, in the United States, nearly 60 percent of single adults said they were not currently looking for a relationship or casual dates. And while we’re not quite in a romantic recession, the number of active users is still high; Not to mention, Facebook Dating is a secret hit among Gen Z — overall user engagement among many apps, according to analytics firm Apptopia, is down 7 percent year over year. (Yes, even despite a Belgian artist’s bizarre attempt to match people based on their browser history.)

It’s not a crisis or anything – tens of millions of people are still swiping, swiping and liking on a daily basis – and Big Dating was desperate to repair its reputation. Artificial intelligence seemed like an answer.

In October, Three Day Rule, a matchmaking service for veteran players, launched an AI app trained by matchmakers called Tai that offers real-time coaching. Grindr, which seeks to become the ultimate global gay community by being “AI-first,” uses tools from Anthropic and Amazon in its wingman feature and chat summaries (although some users have been unhappy about embracing the broad application of the machine technology). Iris, Rizz, and Elate have also rolled out AI features to help users navigate the early speaking stages.

In a year where everyone was Love Island in the USA On the mind and desire to return to social media, virtual relationships have seen record growth – as have divorces caused by AI affairs. (According to a report by TechCrunch, the market for AI has grown more than 96 percent since 2024.) Meanwhile, Tinder has undergone a brand refresh and is trying to attract more Gen Z users. “The biggest issue we care about…is the mass creation of new accounts,” Yoel Roth, head of trust and safety at Match Group, told WIRED in October after the launch of Tinder’s mandatory face verification update.