Generative AI ChatGPT Steaming Up Those Amorous Dating Apps And Online Dating Portals, Bothering AI Ethics And AI Law

The language of love.

Not everyone has the gift of gab when it comes to whispering endearing sweet nothings. Some people simply draw a blank when trying to express their amorous feelings. Others sincerely make an attempt, though sadly they end up putting their own foot into their sentimental mouths. All in all, it seems like you are darned if you do and darned if you don’t. Saying the wrong thing is bad. Saying nothing at all is possibly equally as bad.

How in the world can you seek to find those earnestly romantic words of courtship?

The answer might just be found via the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Yes, that’s right. There are gobs of people veering toward using a type of AI known as generative AI to aid their dating aspirations. In addition, dating apps and online dating portals have also discovered that generative AI can be a huge boon to their wares. Anyone using a dating program is likely to soon see that their favored match-making computerized solution is getting intermixed into the advent of generative AI. I’ll be telling you more about this momentarily.

Meanwhile, you might be wondering what in fact generative AI is.

Let’s cover the fundamentals of generative AI and then we can take a close look at how the dating world is being altered via these latest new AI apps. The agony and the ecstasy of dating might well be determined via the use of generative AI.

Into all of this comes a slew of AI Ethics and AI Law considerations.

Please be aware that there are ongoing efforts to imbue Ethical AI principles into the development and fielding of AI apps. A growing contingent of concerned and erstwhile AI ethicists are trying to ensure that efforts to devise and adopt AI takes into account a view of doing AI For Good and averting AI For Bad. Likewise, there are proposed new AI laws that are being bandied around as potential solutions to keep AI endeavors from going amok on human rights and the like. For my ongoing and extensive coverage of AI Ethics and AI Law, see the link here and the link here, just to name a few.

The development and promulgation of Ethical AI precepts are being pursued to hopefully prevent society from falling into a myriad of AI-inducing traps. For my coverage of the UN AI Ethics principles as devised and supported by nearly 200 countries via the efforts of UNESCO, see the link here. In a similar vein, new AI laws are being explored to try and keep AI on an even keel. One of the latest takes consists of a set of proposed AI Bill of Rights that the U.S. White House recently released to identify human rights in an age of AI, see the link here. It takes a village to keep AI and AI developers on a rightful path and deter the purposeful or accidental underhanded efforts that might undercut society.

I’ll be interweaving AI Ethics and AI Law related considerations into this discussion.

The Loving Basics Of Generative AI

The 600-pound gorilla of generative AI is represented by an AI app known as ChatGPT. ChatGPT sprung into the public consciousness back in November when it was released by the AI research firm OpenAI. Ever since ChatGPT has garnered outsized headlines and astonishingly exceeded its allotted fifteen minutes of fame.

I’m guessing you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT or maybe even know someone that has used it.

ChatGPT is considered a generative AI application because it takes as input some text from a user and then generates or produces an output that consists of an essay. The AI is a text-to-text generator, though I describe the AI as being a text-to-essay generator since that more readily clarifies what it is commonly used for. You can use generative AI to compose lengthy compositions or you can get it to proffer rather short pithy comments. It’s all at your bidding.

All you need to do is enter a prompt and the AI app will generate for you an essay that attempts to respond to your prompt. The composed text will seem as though the essay was written by the human hand and mind. If you were to enter a prompt that said “Tell me about Abraham Lincoln” the generative AI will provide you with an essay about Lincoln. There are other modes of generative AI, such as text-to-art and text-to-video. I’ll be focusing herein on the text-to-text variation.

Your first thought might be that this generative capability does not seem like such a big deal in terms of producing essays. You can easily do an online search of the Internet and readily find tons and tons of essays about President Lincoln. The kicker in the case of generative AI is that the generated essay is relatively unique and provides an original composition rather than a copycat. If you were to try and find the AI-produced essay online someplace, you would be unlikely to discover it.

Generative AI is pre-trained and makes use of a complex mathematical and computational formulation that has been set up by examining patterns in written words and stories across the web. As a result of examining thousands and millions of written passages, the AI can spew out new essays and stories that are a mishmash of what was found. By adding in various probabilistic functionality, the resulting text is pretty much unique in comparison to what has been used in the training set.

There are numerous concerns about generative AI.

One crucial downside is that the essays produced by a generative-based AI app can have various falsehoods embedded, including manifestly untrue facts, facts that are misleadingly portrayed, and apparent facts that are entirely fabricated. Those fabricated aspects are often referred to as a form of AI hallucinations, a catchphrase that I disfavor but lamentedly seems to be gaining popular traction anyway (for my detailed explanation about why this is lousy and unsuitable terminology, see my coverage at the link here).

Another concern is that humans can readily take credit for a generative AI-produced essay, despite not having composed the essay themselves. You might have heard that teachers and schools are quite concerned about the emergence of generative AI apps. Students can potentially use generative AI to write their assigned essays. If a student claims that an essay was written by their own hand, there is little chance of the teacher being able to discern whether it was instead forged by generative AI. For my analysis of this student and teacher confounding facet, see my coverage at the link here and the link here.

There have been some zany outsized claims on social media about Generative AI asserting that this latest version of AI is in fact sentient AI (nope, they are wrong!). Those in AI Ethics and AI Law are notably worried about this burgeoning trend of outstretched claims. You might politely say that some people are overstating what today’s AI can actually do. They assume that AI has capabilities that we haven’t yet been able to achieve. That’s unfortunate. Worse still, they can allow themselves and others to get into dire situations because of an assumption that the AI will be sentient or human-like in being able to take action.

Do not anthropomorphize AI.

Doing so will get you caught in a sticky and dour reliance trap of expecting the AI to do things it is unable to perform. With that being said, the latest in generative AI is relatively impressive for what it can do. Be aware though that there are significant limitations that you ought to continually keep in mind when using any generative AI app.

One final forewarning for now.

Whatever you see or read in a generative AI response that seems to be conveyed as purely factual (dates, places, people, etc.), make sure to remain skeptical and be willing to double-check what you see.

Yes, dates can be concocted, places can be made up, and elements that we usually expect to be above reproach are all subject to suspicions. Do not believe what you read and keep a skeptical eye when examining any generative AI essays or outputs. If a generative AI app tells you that Abraham Lincoln flew around the country in his own private jet, you would undoubtedly know that this is malarky. Unfortunately, some people might not realize that jets weren’t around in his day, or they might know but fail to notice that the essay makes this brazen and outrageously false claim.

A strong dose of healthy skepticism and a persistent mindset of disbelief will be your best asset when using generative AI.

We are ready to move into the next stage of this elucidation.

Ways To Use Generative AI When In Your Dating Mode

Now that you have a semblance of what generative AI is, we can explore the particulars of using this type of AI for dating purposes.

Here are my nine key approaches for applying generative AI to the act of dating preparation:

• 1) Creating a dating profile with generative AI
• 2) Critiquing your existing dating profile with generative AI
• 3) Assessing dating prospects via generative AI
• 4) Choosing your dating match via generative AI
• 5) Crafting opening lines via generative AI
• 6) Composing replies to your match-up messages via generative AI
• 7) Dating advisement or coaching via generative AI
• 8) Ego booster via generative AI after dating ambitions crushed
• 9) Other

Let’s briefly consider each one of those approaches.

1) Creating a dating profile with generative AI

The odds are that you struggled mightily to create your dating profile when first making use of a dating app or online portal. One aspect consists of the pictures that you might choose to display. Another seemingly as important element consists of the words that you opt to write. The best pictures can be wholly undermined by words that repel rather than attract a potential mate.

All you need to do is launch a generative AI app such as ChatGPT and enter a prompt indicating that you want to have a dating profile composed.

Keep in mind that you need to include in your prompt the specifics about yourself that will be incorporated into the date enticing profile. There is no magical mindreading by the AI app. If you merely ask to have a dating profile created based on nothing other than thin air, you are going to get a decidedly generic profile. This seems doubtful as especially useful, one supposes.

Some people try to use generative AI for this purpose and are initially disappointed at the composed dating profile by the generative AI. They though make a common rookie mistake about how to properly use generative AI. As I’ve discussed in my column at the link here, you need to realize that the best results come from interactively conversing with generative AI. For example, if the first shot at the profile seems overly dry and perhaps exceedingly lengthy, just say so in your next prompt. Tell the AI app that it needs to spruce up the profile and that you want it relatively short and sweet.

Keep iterating until you get what seems to be the cat’s meow, as it were. You then grab the text and copy it over into your dating profile. Voila, you have leveraged AI to your personal advantage and hopefully toward a romance-filled future.

All of this does bring up some sobering qualms, which I think we should indeed go over.

First, let’s assume that you let the generative AI write the profile. I say this because you could potentially take the draft and opt to adjust or rewrite it. In that case, it would seem like you could claim that you essentially wrote Shakespearean prose.

But if the AI app did all the heavy lifting and you did none, are you obligated ethically to say so when you post your profile?

Some would argue vehemently that you need to do so. You must be aboveboard and make clear that you did not write the profile yourself. Be honest. Honesty is the best policy, so they say. On the other hand, the counterargument is that nobody necessarily assumes that people write their profiles anyway. It could be that you got a friend to write it for you. Maybe you hired someone to write it. This logic is said to apply to your pictures too. You didn’t necessarily take your own pictures. You might have had a friend do so or hired someone to take those eye-catching snapshots.

Honesty seemingly comes into the matter as to what the profile says. Assuming that the profile is truthful, it doesn’t count as to how it was composed. The real problem with the claims of honesty has to do with any lying or mistruths in the contents of the profile.

How do you feel about this first conundrum, namely whether you are obligated to inform others as to whether you wrote your profile or had the AI do so for you?

While you are pondering that aspect, let’s consider another concern.

Suppose the AI app somehow portrays your provided background in a style that overly glorifies or embellishes your accomplishments. You might eagerly post the profile since you felt that the AI wrote it, not you, and therefore any bragging is by the AI. No need to be modest when someone or something else touts you as the next best thing since sliced bread.

How does that sit with you?

Yet another angle is that the AI might produce errors or misstatements in the created profile. If you failed to carefully review the material, perhaps you ended up posting it with those errors included. Let’s assume those errors were in your favor. You might have sneakily looked the other way about these factual inaccuracies. In short, you now have essentially distortions posted as part of your profile.

If you are ever called out for those discrepancies, you might be thinking you’ll do one of those wink-wink excuses. It wasn’t me that wrote those incongruities, you say with a straight face, it was the AI. Using the classic ploy of blaming a computer for something gone awry is a longstanding sidestep to taking direct blame.

We could go on and on about these AI Ethics deliberations. Some believe we need AI Laws that can also aid in ensuring that the use of AI for deceptive purposes is kept in check.

I’ll give you a more explicit and outrageous example as an illustration.

You perhaps already know that there are swindlers and cheats that set up fake dating profiles. These are so-called honey pots that are intended to lure in victims. They get someone to fall for a fictionalized profile, and then ultimately do a bit of catfishing. The aim is to get credit card info, cash, and the like. Personal info alone is sufficient to empower the cheats to try and open bank accounts in your name and perform other dastardly deeds.

Believe it or not, a problem facing these swindlers is that they have to laboriously write numerous dating profiles. Furthermore, each profile has to seem to be relatively true and fluent in natural language, or else the potential victim might get wise to what is going on.

They are gradually realizing that generative AI can be their best friend in aiding and abetting their fleecing endeavors. One evildoer human can easily generate zillions of dating profiles via the use of generative AI. Up until now, it was as though they were working with a mere hand trowel, and now they’ve got an all-powerful automated tractor that can do the work in mass volume. I’ve discussed that one of our most vexing global issues is going to be that AI often has a dual-use function, namely that it can be used for good but it can readily be switcheroo redeployed for vile bad, see the link here.

I mention this to not only warn you to be cautious when looking at and falling for a faked dating profile but also to bring up that some assert we need more strident laws to clamp down on this type of AI usage. Trying to do so is somewhat tricky. Also, some believe that existing laws are sufficient and there is no need to establish new AI-specific laws.

Time will tell.

2) Critiquing your existing dating profile with generative AI

Many people have already crafted their dating profiles and do not see a need to use generative AI to create one anew. That abundantly makes sense.

You can still though use generative AI.

Take your existing profile and copy it into a prompt for a generative AI app such as ChatGPT. Include a question or instruction to the AI app to critique your profile. It is usually best to be specific as to what kind of critique you want to get else the AI app might wander afield regarding what you have in mind.

If the critique at first blush seems lacking in punch, continue to iterate and converse with the AI app. Always keep at the ready the notion of iteration and conversation when using generative AI. Make it a given.

Say, here’s a question for you.

If the AI app says that you should change your profile to say this thing or that thing, whatever that might be, are you obliged to make the change?

I hope you know that the answer is No.

You are under no obligation to abide by what the AI app indicates. Perhaps this seems obvious. I say this because some seem to mentally fall into the trap that these AI apps are like a Wizard of Oz. People seem to come under the aura or bewitching spell of the AI. Don’t fall for this. It is just arranging and rearranging words based on the extensive computational pattern matching that took place when being devised.

I do want to also let you know about a very important precaution when using generative AI.

You are not assured of the privacy or confidentiality of the data that you enter into these AI apps. If you enter private info into a prompt, this is usually considered fully available to the AI maker. I’ve explored in detail the rules and licensing associated with ChatGPT, see my coverage at the link here. You should be extremely careful about what you enter into generative AI. It can be possibly examined and used by the AI maker, potentially even wrapped into their pattern-matching computational network.

Look carefully at the warnings, if any, when logging into a generative AI app, and make sure to read the fine print of the licensing materials. Whether the AI app is available for free use or at a cost, I’ll say this, the wisdom of buyer beware needs to be your vital mantra.

3) Assessing dating prospects via generative AI

Another means of using generative AI would be to assess the profiles of those that have caught your eye.

You can feed other profiles into a generative AI app and ask or tell the AI to assess the profile. Once again, make sure to explain to the AI what you are looking for. A bland ask is going to produce a bland answer.

Perhaps you are scratching your head as to why the AI app could do any better a job at assessing a profile than you could with your own noggin. One basis for using AI is that unlike you, there isn’t any emotional attachment to the profile. It could be that you fell head over heels for the profile, and thus overlooked telltale clues of aspects that might be less than enthralling. The AI app is going to presumably be more cutthroat about what it finds.

That being said, the AI app could also be somewhat dreamy in its assessment. If the words in the profile manage to strike just the right chord when it comes to words and patterns of words, the AI app could profess that this is the love of your life. There might not be any bona fide basis for this outsized recommendation by the AI.

I know it seems repetitive of me, but always keep your wits about yourself, and do not let an impulse of anthropomorphizing overtake your human judgment.

Got a quick question for you on this.

Imagine that you use generative AI to assess the profiles of those that you are thinking of possibly dating. Suppose that you follow up with one of those profiles. The person asks you what made you pick them.

Are you going to say that it was entirely of your own volition, or will you admit that you ran their profile through generative AI too?

I dare say, if you indicate you used generative AI, the effort might intrigue the other person and they will feel proud that the AI favored them. Conversely, they might get utterly steamed and bitterly upset at the aspect that a machine intervened to select them.

Something to judiciously consider.

4) Choosing your dating match via generative AI

One means of using generative AI consists of having the AI assess a profile, while another approach would be to have the AI outright choose among profiles that you feed into it. You provide a bunch of profiles as prompts. You then ask the AI app to pick one for you.

Good idea?

Bad idea?

Some would say it is atrocious. Maybe even stupid. You should be using your common sense to choose those that you are opting to date. Do not rely upon a senseless piece of software to make that hardy and hearty selection.

I’ll let you mull this over.

5) Crafting opening lines via generative AI

Are you tongue-tied when it comes to crafting opening lines for dating purposes?

You can use generative AI to compose opening lines for you. If that seems wrong, the counterargument is that you can easily do Internet searches to find opening lines. Why is using AI any worse?

The use of AI offers some additional advantages versus a straightforward Internet search. You can seek to have the opening line tailored to you and the person you are aiming to date. By entering into a prompt the particulars of you and the prospective date, the opening line can be potentially customized just for this circumstance.

Depending upon the particulars, the opening line might have never been used before, at all. The originality might get you bonus points. As always, screen the opening line before you use it. Make sure it fits the situation at hand. The good news is that most of the generative AI apps are being devised to avoid producing untoward essays or outputs. Ergo, the opening line is likely to be clean. Some are seeking to push the boundaries and guardrails of the generative AI apps and break them into spouting unsavory language. I’ve explained why they are doing this and the tricks they are using, see the link here.

6) Composing replies to your match-up messages via generative AI

You receive a message from a prospective date.

What should you indicate in your reply?

Maybe your brain freezes up. You want to say something clever. You want it to be wonderful. Unfortunately, you never did well at writing those Hallmark card slogans and sayings. In that case, you could enter the message into a generative AI app and ask the AI to compose a suitable reply.

You might need to provide a bit of context else the AI app will spew forth something inane or out of whack. Whether it is worth your time to use the AI, that’s up to you. A reply directly from you, unaided, might be the proper step.

Speaking of which, suppose that you continually use AI to come up with words of amazing allurement. Over and over you do this. Then, you opt to speak with the person. They are anticipating that each word you utter is one of immense beauty and poetry.

What now?

Some would say that you are inevitably going to pay the piper. You falsely portrayed your replies as though they were from you. Instead, you were using AI all along.

Does this seem reminiscent of the famous balcony scene in Cyrano de Bergerac, whereby the character Christian cannot think of anything to say, so Cyrano hides and whispers words of great passion for him to say aloud? Roxane believes that Christian is the source of these words. A harsh reckoning awaits.

Be wary that your use of generative AI might beget a harsh reckoning.

7) Dating advisement or coaching via generative AI

Dating is hard.

Nowadays, many people opt to engage with a dating coach. The coach guides them during the arduous gauntlet of finding someone to date and actively advises once an amorous partner has been landed. You might pay by the hour for this coaching or sometimes you can subscribe for a monthly fee.

But your human coach might only be available during certain hours. The rest of the time, you are on your own. What are you to do at 2:00 a.m. when you suddenly and unexpectedly have a dating dilemma and cannot reach your dating coach?

Perhaps the answer is that you could use generative AI to help you.

Some would say this is preposterous. You can never replace a human dating coach with a machine. The AI has no emotions. The AI has never dated. The AI is clueless about matters of the heart. You might as well try to ask your toaster questions about how to cope with your love life.

The retort is that the AI might be handier than you think. The AI is data trained on thousands and millions of words that are existent on the Internet. In a sense, you could try to assert that the coaching advisement that has been posted online is a reflection of the human coaches and their heartfelt considerations. You are merely tapping into that.

Also, the usual portrayal is to make this into a false dichotomy. You apparently either use a human coach or you use AI, but you aren’t somehow able to use both. That makes the argument simpler though misleading. Someone can stare you in the eye and say you have to make a choice, human coaching over AI coaching. A falsehood.

You can use a human coach and use AI too. Indeed, there are dating coaches that are embracing the use of AI as a supplement to their advisement services. One claim is that human dating coaches that use AI will outlast and outperform those that do not use AI. We will need to see if that bears out.

One big caution.

I’ve previously discussed that using generative AI for any kind of mental health advisement is rife with problems, see the link here and the link here. Some ardently believe that we need to put a stop to this kind of AI use. Perhaps new AI Laws will be established to regulate such usage. The point is that opting to use AI in this manner is not a slam dunk and care must be dutifully exercised.

8) Ego booster via generative AI after dating ambitions crushed

You are actively dating and then out of the blue, you get summarily dumped.

Ouch.

That hurts.

A lot.

We’ve all been there. You have to pick up the pieces and get your life back in order. The usual suggestions are that you should find new things to do that will help you get over the heart-crushing blows. Find a new hobby. Do things that can raise your spirits.

I’ve got one such idea for you.

Use generative AI to boost your ego. I know this seems silly, but it does sometimes work. You go to generative AI and tell your words of woe. Ask the AI to provide some words of encouragement that will uplift your downtrodden ego.

Voila, the generative AI tells you that you are the most amazing of all humans. It heaps praise upon you. The conversation with the AI nearly makes you blush.

Some say this is a terrible idea and abysmal. Having a word-spouting gimmickry AI app that boosts your ego has got to be the worst act of desperation, they exhort. People will find themselves getting into a mental spiral that is dismal and horrific. They will become dependent upon AI. They will forsake talking with real humans. A recluse that is totally out of touch with society will inevitably result from this kind of AI usage.

Others counter this contention by emphasizing that using AI in some amount of appropriate moderation is sensible and desired. A person that might otherwise have no viable outlet for garnering an ego boost can do so readily and without a big to-do. Sure, it is just AI. Sure, it is not the same as human interaction. Nonetheless, if you told someone to go read a book or watch a TV show to boost their perceptions of the world, that seems akin to what might occur when using AI.

No way, the reply goes. AI is interactive. It is conversational. This is completely unlike watching a TV show or reading a book. The person is much more likely to conflate the interactive nature of the AI with interacting with humans. A slippery slope is afoot.

What do you think of this thorny matter?

9) Other

There are additional ways to make use of generative AI for dating aspirations. I’ve tried to cover the ones that you are more likely to encounter.

This brings up another important topic.

How are you going to find and access generative AI for these sensible or some say wacky dating-related uses?

I’m glad you asked.

Let’s consider that next.

The Dating Apps Are Joining The Generative AI Bandwagon

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you probably already realize that dating apps are hot and seemingly getting hotter each passing day.

Online dating portals and dating apps are big businesses. According to posted estimates, the global dating app market is around $10 billion in size. Growth rates are said to be around 7% per year for the projected range of 2023 to 2030. In the U.S. alone, figures suggest that there are well over 50 million users of these computer-mediated dating mechanisms. Whether those numbers are an overstatement, or possibly an understatement, is hard to say. Viscerally, I’d say we all know in our bones that dating apps are going like gangbusters.

As you can imagine, the vast expansion of smartphone availability really stoked the fires for pursuing matchmaking via online capabilities and smart apps. Plus, per demographic trends, the count of single individuals has been increasing in society too. People want to find a match that fits their interests and like-mindedness. Going to bars is a considered random approach and was of course dampened due to the pandemic. Online portals and dating apps make finding a potential partner a lot easier, requiring less overall effort, and provide the possibility of a heightened chance of matchmaking.

By heightened chance, I mean to say that oftentimes finding a desired partner is a numbers game. The more potential partners that you can reach or know of, the apparent better chance of finding the presumed right one.

Let’s tie this to the phenomena of generative AI.

We know that generative AI is hot. We also know that dating apps are hot. Those that make dating apps realize that their wares are hot. They also realize that generative AI is hot.

All this heat means that it might make sense to combine their hotness if you will.

Dating app makers want to dearly get onto the generative AI bandwagon. You might have noticed that several have already made announcements about their generative AI augmentations. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

On a competitive basis, dating app makers have essentially no choice but to clamor for and include generative AI. The formula is pretty simple. Would people choose to use a dating app that has generative AI or one that doesn’t have it? Assuming that the pricing is around the same, and all else being equal, the AI-augmented dating app is probably going to get the eyeballs and the paying subscribers.

I suppose you could also claim that generative AI is somewhat getting onto the dating app bandwagon. This is not necessarily a widespread pursuit. Some startups are pushing quickly to come out with generative AI dating-related capabilities. This makes sense. A niche is available that has heretofore not been especially populated.

Part of the problem previously was that generative AI was too wild and crazy to be used for dating app purposes. The earlier versions of generative AI would spew forth ugly unspeakable wording. If a dating app added generative AI, they were taking a mighty risk. The AI could emit something foul that would shatter the reputation of the dating app.

Here’s what has turned this vulnerability around.

The use by the AI makers of RLHF (reinforcement learning with human feedback) has helped quite a bit in curtailing the generative AI from generating abject foulness. That’s also why the ChatGPT release went over so well (they extensively used RLHF in the operationalizing of the AI app). Prior attempts at releasing such AI were met with a firestorm of complaints about the adverse language being generated. This can still happen, but typically on a rarer basis and at times as spurred by those that intentionally want such language to be produced.

How are dating app makers going to make use of generative AI?

I’m glad you asked, thanks.

Here’s my list of the six major ways that dating apps and generative AI are being combined:

• a) Provides overall suggestions on using generative AI outside of the dating app
• b) Stipulates specific recommendations on using generative AI alongside the dating app
• c) Connects generative AI as an add-on to the dating app via API
• d) Embeds generative AI directly into the dating app
• e) Establishes generative AI at the essential core of a dating app
• f) Other

I’ll briefly describe each method.

The quickest way to get into the generative AI game is by merely offering overall suggestions to your dating app users about how they can use generative AI all-told (that’s my “a” method above). The dating app maker doesn’t change their dating app at all. They simply provide instructions such as my aforementioned indications of how people can use generative AI-related for their enduring dating trials and tribulations.

This is a low-cost and fast way to climb onto the generative AI bandwagon.

Next, in my “b” above, the dating app maker indicates how you can use generative AI specifically as it relates to their dating app. Once again, the dating app is unchanged. But at least the instructions explain when to use generative AI in conjunction with the dating app. You still need to get a separate account for the generative AI, and the burden is entirely on your shoulders to try and follow along.

Those are the quick-and-dirty approaches.

Next, consider the more streamlined angles.

Working at a feverish pace, some of the dating app makers have begun to connect their dating app with a generative AI app (that’s my “c” above). This is usually done via an API (application programming interface), which I explain further in my discussion at the link here. The beauty of this is that the user doesn’t need to get a generative AI app account on their own. By simply using the dating app, they are now able to access generative AI.

The connectivity aspects are usually done in a somewhat arm’s length manner. The next step would be to essentially embed the generative AI capabilities into the dating app (my “d” above). This allows that as you use the dating app, the generative AI capabilities appear at the right time in the right place. The dating app maker aims to make generative AI seamlessly available in their app.

It could be that the embedded approach is sufficient. Case closed.

Not everyone believes that to be the case. Some startups think this is like trying to put lipstick on a pig. They insist that you need to build a dating app from the ground up, starting from scratch, and make generative AI the cornerstone of the whole concoction. That’s the “e” I’ve depicted above.

There are other variations too, but I believe this gets the gist of the combinations and permutations.

Keep your eyes open as the dating app makers go to war over which dating app or online portal has the most and best use of generative AI. You should anticipate a lot of hot air will coincide with these claims. Do your homework and ascertain to what degree the generative AI is really being employed.

Watch out for the dating app smoke-and-mirrors marketing that will indubitably be amply and loudly exhibited.

Conclusion

Where are things today?

For the moment, you’ll most likely need to make use of my listed nine ways of using generative AI by hand. Thus, you’ll have to get your own generative AI account and use it along with whatever dating app you are using.

Soon enough, the dating app makers will have worked non-stop to get generative AI into the innards of their apps. At that juncture, you’ll be able to use generative AI via the dating app. That doesn’t mean that you can use the generative AI in ways other than dating, so you might still want to have generative AI available for other personal uses too.

As was hopefully evident, all of this use of generative AI for dating purposes is fraught with AI Ethics considerations and might also tempt lawmakers into devising and enacting new AI Laws. The more that people rely upon generative AI, especially in the highly sensitive and vulnerable throes of dating, the greater the chances of legislators and politicians being drawn into the quagmire.

I’m guessing that some of you might be thinking that you will never opt to use generative AI for dating advice or in any other similar capacity. Those pesky machines are not adequate for that role, you might passionately believe.

That’s certainly your choice to make.

A final thought for now on this controversial and mind-bending topic.

The English writer John Lyly said in his 1579 published novel Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit that “the rules of fair play do not apply to love and war.”

If you buy into that classic catchphrase, the question arises as to whether using generative AI might just give an edge to those in the dating game that opt to use such AI. In that case, they are armed with a capability that those without are at a presumed disadvantage. How far are you willing to go in the gambit of love?

Just to let you know, if you ask generative AI that question, it will likely tell you that yes, you should use generative AI, or that no, you should not, since it all depends upon your personal preference. Win the war of attaining love by using generative AI is one idea. Losing the war of achieving love via generative AI is yet another.

Quite an emotional conundrum that even AI itself cannot resolve.