In an earnings call earlier this week, Tinder’s parent company Match Group said it was testing an AI-powered tool that will evaluate photos in a user’s photo album and select five that best represent them on the dating app.
“Sometimes, people are really excited to jump into the Tinder experience,” said Match Group CEO Bernard Kim, according to TechCrunch, “[but] people get generally nervous or uncomfortable, like, ‘What is the right picture that I’ve taken over the last year to make my dating profile more me?’” The company is also testing features that would improve content recommendation.
At an event last month, Tinder’s Chief Product Officer Mark Van Ryswyk shared that around one third of Tinder members said they would “absolutely” elect to use generative AI when creating their dating profile said Tinder.
That’s a promising signal to apps already using AI to help their users jump into the dating pool.
An entire ecosystem of third party apps help users select the best opening line, give feedback on your profile, or generate photos for you. Earlier this year, Gen Z-focused app Snack began offering users the option to train an avatar to have conversations with potential matches and report back on the ones that seemed the most promising. And some clever (or bored) users have been relying on automation tools to make swiping on the apps a little more worth their time.
Tinder is taking a more cautious tack: “We need to be really thoughtful about making sure that we’re giving the right thought to authenticity and ethical and privacy concerns,” said Kim.
In April, Tinder introduced an AI-powered verification tool that analyzed users’ video selfies to better identify catfishers or bots. Competitor Bumble has been using image-recognition AI for years to detect nude photos in chats as a way to prevent cyberflashing.
