The AI Dating Dilemma: Enhancing Profiles or Eroding Authenticity?

You've probably been duped by AI on a dating app - but not the way you think | Opinion

Unsure of how to craft the perfect text or tackle a tough topic? Artificial Intelligence might be able to help. As I was hanging out with a couple of friends recently, one of them mentioned that he had used an artificial intelligence program to punch up his online dating profile. I didn't respond. The other guy we were with is so much an AI fanboy that it's hard to get through a conversation without him describing how much simpler the technology has made his life. Still, the idea of trusting machines to bridge the gender divide and unlock secrets generations of humans have sought seemed sketchy to me. I've heard all the hype. I've been told, repeatedly, about how AI will change our lives in wonderful and unimaginable ways. Even so, are we really ready to move toward a future where we rely on AI to fill our social calendars? Computer-assisted canoodling comes with risks Sharpening a business résumé with computer assistance is one thing. Since olden times, lots of books have been devoted to that subject, so enlisting AI's help is a logical progression there. Dating is - or at least should be - different. It is, after all, among the most interpersonal experiences human beings can have. Do we really want microprocessors more involved in matters of the heart than they already are? No question, if you are using a dating site, an algorithm already helps pick your matches. That decreases the likelihood of those Hallmark Channel pairings with people of very different backgrounds meeting by chance and falling in love. Maybe that's no great loss. The odds of mismatched couples staying together anywhere but in those fictitious and perpetually snowy Hallmark villages may be on the low side, anyway. Still, is it wise - or even ethical - to use AI to make a dating profile more attractive to potential matches? Using an old photo or a "glamour" portrait with a dating profile is a familiar trick. But AI has the ability to take photo doctoring to a whole new level. Rather than just sending would-be suitors images of what we looked like in our prime, AI can manufacture super-buff versions of ourselves that we might not recognize in a mirror. If relationships never advance past the online flirting stage, that's fine. If potential romantic partners finally meet face-to-face, that's when those AI-generated illusions will be shattered. Some might argue keeping virtual relationships going a while gives less physically attractive people more opportunities to demonstrate their good qualities, before being dismissed based on their appearance. I would counter that relationships grounded in deception probably aren't headed anywhere good. Using AI to provide more clever answers to dating profile questions isn't much better than digitally altering photos. If your dating profile gives people the impression you are smarter, funnier or more self assured than you really are, you will be found out eventually. I think most people would agree that creating AI-generated profiles that are purely fake to scam people is wrong. Yet AI-assisted dating profiles are at least a step - and maybe several steps - in that direction. Will AI have to teach us the facts of life someday? Overall, AI's intrusion into the dating world is a disturbing trend. If people become so reliant on technology to handle the most intimate details of their personal lives, it won't be long before a "date" might be two people sitting across from each other in a restaurant, parroting what their smartphones are telling them to say to each other. Some of us worry about AI eventually overthrowing human civilization. Research already suggests that AI programs would resort to blackmail to protect themselves from deactivation or replacement. The end for our species might not be as dramatic as Skynet commissioning an army of Terminators to wipe us out. At the rate we're going, maybe all AI would need to do is provide enough bad dating advice so we're no longer able to procreate. Blake Fontenay is USA TODAY's commentary editor.

Dating expert reveals huge issue sparked by artificial intelligence...

A relationship expert has warned about the use of AI when it comes to emotional connection after a man was spotted treating ChatGPT like his lover. Blake Pavey, an Australian comedian, appeared on the On It Off It podcast and revealed he was on the train and noticed a man messaging ChatGPT "like it was his girlfriend". "He was like, 'I've never been able to connect with somebody like you before'. It was like a massive paragraph," he recalled. "And I was like, that's so lovely -- and then I saw it was a chatbot. I thought, 'That's really sad'." He said the man was a decent looking, corporate guy, and he couldn't help but think it was "pathetic" that he had to turn to artificial intelligence for human connection. "You just made guys who fall in love with strippers cooler," Pavey, 23, said. Samantha Jayne, a relationship expert, said what Pavey saw pointed to a much bigger problem when it comes to dating. "People are losing the ability to connect with others. It all started with smartphones, social media, then Covid only made things worse," she said. She said the man Pavey saw on public transport potentially had a huge fear of rejection and a lack of trust -- and he knew that AI wouldn't reject him. "It is very common to see people connecting with AI as if they are connecting with a human to meet their needs for connection, intimacy, companionship and emotional support," she said. "You only have to look at movies such as Her, where a man falls in love with his AI. "Theodore Twombly, voiced by Joaquin Phoenix, develops a relationship with Samantha, an AI assistant. While it meets his needs, ultimately it leads to heartache and deception, proving it is not a solution. "Since the smartphone, many people have been connecting virtually through platforms and social media." Jayne said there are pros and cons when it comes to artificial intelligence. One positive is that it can assist with conversation starters where people might normally become stuck. It also helps with practicing texting. But the negatives include a lack of authenticity because when you eventually meet, the online persona is likely to be very different to the reality. She said it can also create deceptive profiles when too many enhancements are used. "The biggest problem with AI dating is that it creates unhealthy, unrealistic expectations about real relationships," she said. "It can also cause too much investment in AI relationships and stunted development in real life relationships so yes, AI has the capacity to ruin human connections. "It could be seen as the AI is just easier to correspond with and gives an immediate response so it could temporarily be the compilation of choice." When it comes to her own clientele, Jayne said she highlights that relying on AI is like "riding a bike as an adult with your training wheels on". "There comes a point in your life where you take responsibility and grow to be a healthy adult who has a genuine relationship with self and others. Throw away the smartphone for a few hours and instead connect through eye contact, voice and physical touch," she advised.