I blogged previously about the role and ethics of AI use in the online dating communication context. The Guardian published over the weekend a piece discussing the proliferation of this practice. One of the problems it highlights is the mismatch that individuals encounter between who they thought they were texting and the person that shows up on a date and is significantly less articulate or attuned. In that sense and on average, it likely makes online dating (as well as getting to know each other via texting generally) an even less efficient process than already.
Some of the uses of AI mentioned in the interviews conducted for the Guardian article lean toward the comical, such as this one:
As 32-year-old Rich points out, though, "it's not like using ChatGPT guarantees success". When he met someone in a bar one Friday night and swapped social media handles, he asked AI what his next move should be. ChatGPT discerned that sending an initial message on Monday midmorning would set the right pace. "Then it gave me some options for what the message could be," says Rich. "Keep it light, warm, and low-stakes so it reads as genuine interest without urgency," the bot advised. "Something like: Hey Sarah, still laughing about [tiny shared moment/reference if you've got one] – good to meet you!" Rich went back and forth with ChatGPT until he felt they'd hit upon exactly the right message ("Hey Sarah, it was lovely to meet you") but sadly she never replied, he says. "It's been two weeks now."
