Bumble adds AI-powered photo captions and profile guidance tools

Bumble announced Thursday that it is adding a series of AI-based features aimed at helping turn matches into lasting connections, including those that offer feedback and guidance on users’ bio, photos and prompts.

The dating app’s new AI-suggested profile guidance tool will roll out globally and will provide “personalised, actionable feedback” on users’ bios and claims. For users in the US, the profile guidance feature can be enhanced with an AI-powered photo captions tool, which can “help you choose the best photos and emerge as your most authentic self.”

According to a Bumble blog post explaining these features, the insights from these AI tools don’t appear to be particularly groundbreaking — for example, Bumble says its AI photo tool may encourage you to get rid of photos in which you’re wearing sunglasses that cover your face, and add a variety of photos, such as those taken outdoors or with friends. It’s advice you could have easily gotten from a friend 10 years ago, but it’s still new information to many users.

In Canada, Bumble is testing another non-AI feature called “Suggest a Date.” When a conversation stops, a user can indicate that they’re open to meeting in person, which the company says is “a simple way to signal that they’re ready to connect offline.”

Of course, another way people use to “signal they’re ready to go offline” is to literally ask someone on a date. But in real life, users don’t seem to take the initiative, so having an in-app way to signal interest might motivate some potential couples to jumpstart their conversation more directly.

“By proposing a date, we create a clear expression of intent and give members a way to move beyond traditional returns and move toward meeting in real life,” Bumble CTO Vivek Sagi said in a statement. “When we reduce friction in the moments that matter most, we help people communicate clearly and confidently, and we increase the likelihood of forming meaningful relationships offline.”

Bumble and other popular dating apps, like Tinder and Match Group’s Hinge, have all adopted AI-powered features in recent months. For example, in December, Hinge introduced a tool to help create more interesting conversations instead of “How are you?”

Tinder might take things a step further. In Australia, Tinder is trialling a tool called Chemistry, which asks users to provide the app with access to their camera roll, a worrying amount of data that can be fed into the AI ​​tool. Based on a user’s camera roll and answers to a series of questions, the AI ​​can learn more about someone’s interests and personality in order to reduce “swipe fatigue” and suggest better matches.

Facebook Dating’s Meta tool does something similar — in October, it launched a feature that asks to use its AI on photos in your camera roll that you haven’t shared yet in order to suggest AI edits.

While these companies are trying to come up with new ways to keep users happy, some young people have rejected online dating altogether, instead looking for more real-world experiences that are not mediated by an app.