Many people love dating apps because they don’t even need to leave their houses to scroll through their potential matches, message their favorite profiles, and get to know someone online. But with the constant rise of technology and the changing times, many people are including virtual reality and artificial intelligence in their online dating experiences. Now, they can have an entire date in Paris or New York City while never leaving the comfort of their own home.
Other people use and rely on AI dating apps every time they log on and see the first few matches that pop up on their profiles because we can all agree that the first matches are almost always the best.
Even though artificial intelligence and virtual reality are often looked down on and often regarded with a fair amount of concern when people discuss them, they are usually what makes online dating apps not only work but also so successful.
Because the dating world is making so many strides to go digital, many people and dating apps are relying more and more on artificial intelligence and virtual reality in order to make their dating experience not only as easy as possible, but also to help app users break the ice and meet each other in a way that is safe and secure.
If you’re curious about how the rise of artificial intelligence and virtual reality has impacted and changed online dating forever, keep reading!
Artificial Intelligence in Online Dating
Whether you know it or not, artificial intelligence is one of the biggest reasons online dating is so successful. Artificial intelligence is just a fancy term for a computer program that learns as it goes. Anyone who has ever been on an online dating app knows that one of the main reasons the best dating apps are so successful is due to a high amount of artificial intelligence.
These AI programs can adjust the algorithm, develop new features, provide its users and members with matches that exhibit properties that they’re looking for, suggest places to go out on dates in close proximity to the users, and note activities or interests that the users share a common interest in.
This, of course, is a very limited preview of all that artificial intelligence can do to make your dating app experience wonderful and easy to use.
In short, the only reason thriving dating apps are so successful and able to provide such a good and personalized experience for their users is due, almost in totality, to artificial intelligence.
Here are some ways that artificial intelligence might be working for you and making your experience on dating apps so unique and customizable.
AI Utilizes Data and Insights
Have you ever felt that your phone, computer, TV, or Alexa is listening to you? Unfortunately, they probably are. However, the good news is that they’re often taking the information they glean from you and improving your online experience.
I know that sounds very creepy and invasive, so let’s just zoom in on AI and its use on dating apps.
Most dating apps use some version of artificial intelligence to provide their customers with the best experience possible and to give them the best and most applicable matches.
Artificial intelligence can monitor your usage of the apps and examine who you’re spending the most time searching for, the profiles you linger on for the longest time, and what factors all of those have in common.
Once the AI has done this, the program can supply you with matches that will fit into what you seem to want in a partner, and you will more than likely find success on the app and with those partners as a result.
Many dating apps also have users fill out a form explaining who they want and what they want in a partner. These results are often not published on your dating app profile, but instead, your answers go into a program that then uses what you want and starts searching for profiles that match your wishes.
This is all done by artificial intelligence. Certain dating apps will change your preferences for you or ask you if you would like to change them if they realize that you’re dating people who don’t match what you initially said you wanted.
You must refrain from lying about what you want on dating apps for you to get the best and most tailored results and hope to find success.
But even if you don’t fill out your profile questionnaire or if a questionnaire wasn’t provided at the beginning of the app, AI can still work for you. Many times, when someone is on a dating app like Bumble or Tinder where the profiles seem to appear at random, they’re not random at all.
Instead, the algorithm and artificial intelligence are working hard to match you up with the best profiles that will likely fit your preferences first.
That’s why, if you’re on one of these dating apps, it might be wise to look closely at the first few profiles because AI will usually show you the best options first.
Now, there is something to be said about the premium memberships on these apps and how the algorithm and AI will often show you the paying members in the first batch of matches as well. However, even with those choices, AI will still try to only show you profiles that fit the bill for what you’ve been looking for.
AI also monitors your activity on the apps and can often predict your next move. If you’re constantly online, active, messaging your matches, and keeping up with your online dating profile, AI will often move your profile up because you’re an active user, and you will be rewarded for that.
Remember, the goal for most dating apps is to be successful while you’re on it and then get deleted, so most apps want you to find success quickly and without a problem so that they will, in turn, get the praise. Because of that, artificial intelligence works extremely hard in order to make your time on the app a success.
Alternatively, if you’ve been messaging one person for two weeks on the app or you haven’t been on regularly, AI will often try to shuffle you out of a frequent rotation, just so people aren’t swiping on you who you will never know about or see.
It’s all for the best and one of the many reasons why artificial intelligence is changing and improving the dating game forever.
Artificial Intelligence Learns from Its Users
We touched on this in the last section, but artificial intelligence is continually growing, improving, and learning from the people on the apps. AI uses algorithms and tracks its users’ behavior and interactions on the apps to provide a clear and well-informed match for people.
Artificial Intelligence + says, “AI-based dating apps use machine learning to identify potential matches and predict common elements of interest by garnering insights through data.”
AI will often take what a user states they’re interested in based on their personality tests, what is in their profiles, or who they’re attracted to online and use that information to match the user with someone who shares those interests.
Of course, you can help your artificially intelligent algorithm find better matches by further specifying what you’re looking for by updating your profile and narrowing your searches down to certain types of people. Still, AI can do a lot of the work on its own.
It’s also good to get matched with people who share the same interest as you do because you know that you have at least one thing in common, which can often be an ice breaker.
While we don’t suggest that you can only date someone with whom you share everything in common, it’s nice to have artificial intelligence doing a lot of the heavy lifting when finding suitable potential matches.
And the good news is that if you don’t mesh well with someone, even if, on paper, they seem like the perfect match for you, when you unmatch with someone, AI will also that that decision into account and put that in its programming moving forward.
While it can be a bit unnerving to think about and something that is definitely a sign of the times, there can also be a bit of comfort that comes from knowing that every decision you make on your dating app is only helping you take one step closer to finding your forever love.
Artificial Intelligence Allows Its Users to Focus on What Really Matters
One of the most significant benefits of using dating apps to help you find love is that you barely have to do any work. Many people put their fate in the hands of the algorithm, especially if they’re using dating apps that hand-deliver them new profiles to match with every morning.
One of the biggest draws of dating apps is the algorithm and the use of AI that makes the dating experience quicker and more precise.
Suppose you’re spending all of your energy and running your social battery to the ground by looking at every potential match online with no help or guidance from any artificial intelligence program.
In that case, you’re not only wasting your time and energy by doing work that could be done for you, but you also won’t be able to spend some of that extra energy and brain power on actually talking to your matches and the people who would be the best fit for you.
While AI and the algorithm often provide you with great matches and can usually pick people out based on the fact that it’s a computer and has access to all of the facts, statistics, and numbers, you still want to save your energy up to make sure that you and your match have an actual connection, not just one that looks good on paper… or code.
Another thing to think about is that because most artificial intelligence programs match up their users with people they have multiple things in common with, you’ll also know that the two of you already have a good connection on paper, so it’s just a matter of seeing whether or not you have chemistry as well.
While there’s no guarantee that you’ll like everyone that your dating app’s artificial intelligence sets you up with, you can usually bet that there will be a few good matches in the mix, which is really all we can hope for, considering just how many users are on dating apps.
The Drawbacks of AI Dating
Even though artificial intelligence is terrific and really the thing that makes dating apps work so well and allows you to see all the people who might be good for you to date, there are some drawbacks that you might want to consider when you’re approaching online dating in general.
One thing to think about is how much your computer or phone tracks you. If you notice a few uncanny coincidences and feel as though your dating app might be monitoring you a bit more than it should, you might want to take a step back and do a bit of research to see if anyone else has reported anything strange regarding their experience on the app.
If the app is just tracking how you interact on its interface and who you’re paying attention to, swiping on, and messaging, that’s okay. It will honestly result in better matches and a better experience for you overall.
Still, you want to avoid investing your time and/or money into an app that might be pushing its boundaries with how much it’s observing.
Another drawback that can occur from artificially intelligent dating apps is just how much people begin to rely on them instead of their guts. Many people get stuck in the mindset that if the app/computer/algorithm thought a particular person was a good match, then they ought to be a good match!
It almost dehumanizes the dating app experience, and it can get some people into trouble by assuming that every person the dating app suggests is a match for them will be a perfect fit.
Even if you match up with someone on paper, that doesn’t mean that the two of you will automatically have chemistry and get along as well. That’s something that you need to explore on your own.
AI can only go so far in helping you find the one, but it can’t force you to go out of your comfort zone and talk to someone, and it can’t assume whether or not the people it matches up with will be compatible. That’s on you to figure out and assess.
That being said, there are very few programs out there that are like artificially intelligent-driven dating apps in the way that they’re so accurate and so precise with matching up people in similar demographics, age ranges, distances, and any other factors that might come in handy in their matchmaking work.
Virtual Reality in the World of Dating Apps
Artificially intelligent-driven dating apps are nothing new to the world, and by this time. We’ve all accepted that computers play a bigger part in our daily lives than we might care to admit. But virtual reality is also relatively new to the dating world, and it’s revolutionizing how people approach online dating.
How many times have you matched with someone online, had a great conversation with them through messages that were carefully crafted and typed out, and then met up with them in person and immediately regretted everything?
There’s no skirting around the topic; texting and messaging on dating apps often gives the illusion of a safe and more euphoric environment.
You can’t really assess whether or not the two of you will have chemistry in the real world.
But there is something that more and more people are utilizing to see whether or not they will have a chance for chemistry in the real world, and that’s virtual reality. People are using virtual reality tools to see whether or not they will be a good match in real life with the people they’re talking to online.
Even though it’s not a fool-proof plan and there are some missing elements to it (the other three of the five senses, for example), virtual reality is a fantastic tool for people to utilize and see if they could have a potential future with the people to whom they’re talking online.
Virtual Reality Provides a More 3-D Experience for Its Users
Messaging someone on a dating app can get boring and monotonous quickly. At the end of the day, no matter how exciting someone is or how witty their responses might be, it can be hard to get a feel for what that person is like off the app and when they’re not spending the time to type out their curated responses.
One essential element to getting to know someone is just hearing their voice. That’s why apps like Hinge have voice prompts in their bios now, because they want their users to get the most accurate depiction of someone right off the bat and not have to go on a first date, learn a crucial bit of information about your partner, like what their voice sounds like, and then drop off from the date and decide you don’t like them.
When you add virtual reality in any context to your online dating experiences, you’re then adding another layer on which you can get to know someone better. Virtual reality doesn’t have to be invasive. You don’t need to share personal information with the people you’re talking to online to meet them in the metaverse.
Still, it can help them better understand who you are, what you sound like, and other elements that add a bit more skin and bones to the person they’re swiping on.
While nothing will quite capture the feeling of actually meeting a person in real life other than doing just that, there is something to be said about at least trying virtual reality on your dates and seeing where that leads you.
VR Allows You to Socialize from Your Own Home
Let’s be very honest; not many people want to actually go out on a first date. It’s always a bit uncomfortable, it’s hard to know the vibe and then to match with someone, and there are better ways to spend your evening.
Maybe I’m alone in feeling this way, but I would much rather be on the couch in my own home and meet someone than have to go out and do that at a place where I don’t know and the pressure is on.
Thankfully, with virtual reality, it’s now a possibility that you can meet someone from the comfort of your own home. If I had the choice between getting dressed up and going out on an in-person date or being able to meet someone while I was still sitting on my couch in my own home, I would choose the sofa every single time.
Online dating is already a bit uncomfortable, and dating can be challenging enough without forcing me to go outside my comfort zone to meet someone who might be a flop.
You Get To Experience Cooler Dates
Because of the nature of virtual reality and the fact that the world isn’t based on reality whatsoever, you can start to reimagine the dating game altogether. Suddenly, you’re not limited by money, resources, or distance. Instead, the entire (fake) world is open to you, and you can choose to explore all that it might have in store for you.
Using virtual reality on dating apps to connect with people worldwide is a wonderful tool because so many people are limited by time and distance. All of a sudden, once you introduce VR and all of its benefits to your dating app experience, those limitations disappear, and you’re no longer constricted by anything.
Not to mention, you get to see some pretty amazing things, still from the comfort of your own home. If you’re dating someone or you are matched with someone online who is far from you, and the two of you introduce virtual reality dates into your relationship, the possibilities will suddenly become endless.
VR will not only spice up your dating life and allow you to do, see, and experience things that you might never have thought were possible, but it also can take dating and online dating specifically to a whole new level.
Because you’ve included virtual reality into your life and allowed it to spice up your dates, you can ‘visit’ wherever you want to in the entire world and experience things with your partner that you might never have thought were possible.
Even though you can experience virtual reality while you’re on your own and in your house, you can share the experience with someone, which is an extraordinary moment.
The Downsides of Virtual Reality Dates
Even though we love how much technology is constantly progressing and improving some outdated ways of life, there is always a bit of a downfall that occurs when computers replace or start to replace interpersonal relationships.
Ultimately, it will always be better to meet someone in person and see if you have physical chemistry with them to fully assess whether or not they’re worth pursuing a long-term relationship with. Some things cannot replace that feeling or that connection, no matter how technologically advanced they might be.
Couples may also start to depend on virtual reality and dates set in the metaverse to bring them joy and interesting ideas rather than relying on each other’s company. At the end of the day, if you’re unhappy in your relationship when you’re with your partner and doing nothing, you will not be happy overall.
Even though virtual reality may be a fun addition to spicing up your dating life and allowing the two of you to experience some things that you would have never been able to experience otherwise, it’s good to add some balance to your dating life and maybe even be content with being bored with each other.
That’s always a good way to assess whether or not you like someone — if you’re okay with being bored with them.
Our final word of caution is very on-theme with all of this. While virtual reality and artificial intelligence might be fun to experience for a while and could be an excellent addition to your dating life, it’s always good to not have to rely on them for the success and enjoyment of your relationship.
