How AI will influence how we meet people online
By David L. Podos
Online dating has come a very long way since its humble beginning back in 1995 when it was first introduced as match.com.
Since then, over 2,500 online dating sites are active on the internet in the United States alone, not counting for estimates of up to more than 8,000 worldwide.
There seems to be no letup in growth as predictions are trending toward as many as 1,000 new online dating sites expected to open up each year. Platforms like the Dating God is well versed in helping people navigate the online dating websites by offering reviews.
Enter artificial intelligence. AI systems can learn faster and be better prepared for real world situations by creating powerful simulation environments. Unless you have been living completely off the grid, it would be hard to avoid news that has at least some information on the ever-growing impact that AI has and will have on every human being.
In a Pew Research Center story written a few years ago, writers Janna Anderson and Lee Rainie discuss some of the advantages of AI but also the possible risks and concerns. “Computers might match or even exceed human intelligence and capabilities on tasks such as complex decision making, reasoning and learning, as well as sophisticated analytics. Experts predict networked artificial intelligence will amplify human effectiveness [but] threaten human autonomy.”
It is true that super computers (quantum computing systems) which feed AI will certainly have tremendous benefits, in factory production for example, or in vehicle safety saving lives and money, as well as in health care, particularly in diagnosis and treatment applications for patients.
But will we lose our humanness from such technologies and what has this to do with online dating sites?
Actually, plenty, but I will get there in a moment.
Many people do in fact “find” someone while navigating online dating sites. According to Forbes Health, nearly 70% of individuals who met someone on a dating app said it led to a romantic exclusive relationship.
Take for example Jay Cohen a lifelong resident of Utica. He has been quite successful in his past experiences with online dating.
“I started to explore online dating sites in my late 20s. In my opinion the older you get the less chances are that you will meet someone. That is not to say that in your late 20s is considered old, but unless you’re in college and surrounded by hundreds of women or going to bars, the opportunity to meet someone has diminishing returns,” Cohen said. “The online dating was a way I could see who was out there.”
Cohen agreed that many online profiles for both men and women are totally bogus, with up false images of themselves as well as embellishments from their educational background to where they are employed etc. Even so, he feels that it’s worth it.
“I actually met someone online while I was employed as a flight attendant. I met her on one of my overnight flights. It was as they say ‘love at first sight’ and that relationship lasted 10 years.”
While he would recommend online dating sites to friends and associates, he said to be cautious.
“Go into it at first with the attitude to just see how it will work out, don’t go into it right away thinking I’m going to find the perfect love,” he said.
So, how does AI fit into all of this?
With the power of AI, users are able to create very intriguing fake profiles far more sophisticated than they were capable of doing. An online user can even create a completely fake person altogether. AI is also being incorporated into helping users “create” communication dialogues allowing them to produce the “perfect” chat voice and words to allure other users, but, it’s not their authentic voice, it’s not from a natural truly human condition, because it is AI created.
Falling in love with someone can happen anywhere at any time, even if you never have met them in real life. The dangers of online dating sites and the psychological fallout is real, but the hazards of people falling into an abyss of computer-generated AI reality, creating a person you are not, can have devastating consequences.
Melinda McCabe is a 17-year school counselor for the Utica school district as well as a mental health counselor working on her licensing hours for New York state.
“I personally think that many people are being taken advantage of on these online dating apps. For example, someone is not really looking to find a relationship but to scam you out of your money for instance. There is also a phrase called catfishing which basically means the act of going online, meeting somebody and giving them a profile that’s not real. People can wind up having literally a year-long relationship with someone online that they never meet [but] they have this image of who this person is. They are emotionally connected, only to eventually find out the person was lying all the time. An act of betrayal that can affect someone’s mental health in a negative way,” McCabe said.
AI is here and it’s not going away, the genie has been let out of the bottle and there is no way it can be put back in.
For those seeking relationships using online apps, AI could be an asset helping to connect people in a genuine way, the warning here is this.
The likelihood of losing your authentic self and becoming nothing more than an online AI human construct is a real possibility for sure.