Meta’s Facebook Dating is the latest matching platform to deploy AI features, hoping to prevent dating app burnout known as “swipe fatigue.”
The average dating app user spends more than 50 minutes a day just swiping, according to a recent Forbes Health survey. But a customizable search function may help alleviate swipe fatigue by giving online daters new ways to connect beyond swiping through potential matches, Facebook Dating product manager Neha Kumar told Fortune. Meta also announced this week another feature that automatically matches a user with a surprise match based on a personalized algorithm.
Meta’s AI chatbot Dating Assistant helps users customize searches so they “go beyond traditional traits like height or education, supporting unique prompts like, ‘Find me a Brooklyn girl who loves live music, cats, and museums,’” Kumar said.
Meta’s features arrive as its competitors race to deploy their own AI-powered tools. Hinge’s CEO told Fast Company he expects “mass swiping” to become “arcane” within three to five years, as people will increasingly turn to AI-driven searches where they input exactly what they want in a potential match—making endless swipe sessions obsolete.
The new search option offers more than what’s currently available on other dating apps, Kumar said. But other larger competitors have developed their own AI features. Tinder has an AI photo selector; Hinge has one that gives users an option to improve their responses to profile prompts with AI. Bumble has similar features, plus an AI-powered icebreaker feature to begin conversations.
