"My AI chatbot had a really good time with your AI chatbot. They've decided to go on a second date."
Is this the future of dating? Or might some of it already be the present?
The dating app Volar now allows you to be interviewed by a chatbot that asks you about what you like to do for work and fun and what you prefer in a partner. From your answers, the app can create an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that's supposed to mirror you and even your style of conversation.
Yes, this could be an AI-generated "A You," so to speak. This personal AI chatbot can then go on virtual first dates with other AI chatbots that are mimics of other real people. So instead of you going through the awkward and potentially time-consuming, "How about this weather we've been having?" or "I like food, do you like food?" of first dates, this AI chatbot can do the dirty work for you.
Of course, before the AI chatbot does anything else, you will be able to review the initial conversations, which can each be around 10 messages long, along with the other person's photos, because looks don't matter, right? This will allow you to decide whether you want to move forward with the interaction, rather than simply let your AI chatbot proceed to have sex, enter into a relationship, get engaged, get married, and have kids all on itself. It could get awkward if years down the road, your AI chatbot were to say, "Oh, by the way, you have to pay alimony and child support" and you would have to ask, "Umm, for whom would this be?" But who knows what may happen with future AI iterations?
So is such dating AI an A-OK thing? Or is it the Volar opposite, so to speak?
Well, AI in general can be game-changing in a positive way when it can relieve humans of tasks that are considered time-consuming, arduous, mindless, or dangerous, freeing up time and energy to be spent on much more worthwhile activities. And you could argue that a sizable part of dating might fall into the time-consuming, arduous, mindless, or dangerous categories. This can be especially true if you are more introverted, are not very good at small talk or selling yourself, have a very busy work schedule.
The dating process can be filled with superficial conversations with lots of "What's ups?", "cools", and emojis. It can even be quite unpleasant when having to deal with people who really have no chance of being good matches for you and vice versa. Finding a good match can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack when you aren't even looking in the right barn. So if AI can cut down on time spent searching in the wrong areas, then it could be a good thing.
AI also has the potential to significantly improve human decision-making in many different ways. And let's be realistic, how many people can say, "I always make the best decisions when it comes to dating and love" with a straight face? When you are dating, your mind and your recollections from the past can play lots of tricks on you. You may say that you want someone who understands you but all your mind is understanding is "Look at those abs, look at those abs, look at those abs." So maybe AI can help provide the nudges in the right direction when you most need them,
However, there are risks of having AI slide into your DMs, meaning in this case dating and mating. What if the chatbots don't accurately represent you and everyone else? For example, when you tell the AI chatbot that you like long walks on the beach, your AI chatbot could keep coming back with lifeguards or people who are drowning. Or what if your AI chatbot misinterprets situations that require more subtle, contextual interpretation? Yeah, your chatbot calling 9-1-1 would probably not be the right response when the other chatbot says, "That's sick." Sure, human decision-making can be pretty darn bad. But AI chatbot decision-making can be just as bad in different ways, depending on which humans programmed and trained them. You may not know what opportunities that chatbox may have missed.
Plus, you've got to wonder how much AI will further erode direct human-to-human interactions. While social media and other technologies may have broadened whom and what you can reach, they've also decreased how often people might meet each other in person. And don't underestimate the role that in-person contact can play in building trust and intimacy and how much reducing such contact can weaken the overall social fabric of society. This is not to imply that the entirety of society depends on what you do on your dates. But you can tell things about other people by their nonverbal communication that won't come out in a chat transcript.
Finally, such AI could further reduce the oh-so-important role of serendipity, which at times can be the best way to meet the right match as the movie Serendipity tried to demonstrate. As flawed humans, we don't always know who and what may be best for us. When you interact directly with people, you can learn along the way that certain things don't really matter, while you unexpectedly unearth qualities that do. Often, the happiest things in life come through serendipity.
As with any technology, AI is neither inherently good nor bad. It's all in how it's used that will determine whether it becomes a positive or negative thing. It's still too early to tell how AI will affect dating in general and whether it will be a great or an awful match for you. After all, we as a society are still on our virtual first date with AI.
AI Chatbots Can Now Go On First Dates for You
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29.01.2024
"My AI chatbot had a really good time with your AI chatbot. They've decided to go on a second date."
Is this the future of dating? Or might some of it already be the present?
The dating app Volar now allows you to be interviewed by a chatbot that asks you about what you like to do for work and fun and what you prefer in a partner. From your answers, the app can create an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that's supposed to mirror you and even your style of conversation.
Yes, this could be an AI-generated "A You," so to speak. This personal AI chatbot can then go on virtual first dates with other AI chatbots that are mimics of other real people. So instead of you going through the awkward and potentially time-consuming, "How about this weather we've been having?" or "I like food, do you like food?" of first dates, this AI chatbot can do the dirty work for you.
Of course, before the AI chatbot does anything else, you will be able to review the initial conversations, which can each be around 10 messages long, along with the other person's photos, because looks don't matter, right? This will allow you to decide whether you want to move forward with the interaction, rather than simply let your AI chatbot proceed to have sex, enter into a relationship, get engaged, get married, and have kids all on itself. It could get awkward if........
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