Dating apps go all in for artificial intelligence, but to what end?

Apparently fed up with online dating, people under forty are turning to other less digital options.  

A recent market research survey of 1001 youthful respondents (age 21-35) shows a distinct frustration with dating apps and a decided preference for singles events that speak to shared interests like cooking or games. 

Eventbrite’s downloadable survey report, Niche to Meet You, highlights respondents’ safety concerns about dating profiles and their simple desires to have a good time with people whose company they enjoy. The report includes Eventbrite’s own data regarding 2023-2024 dating events and a survey conducted by GWI USA. 

So it’s not surprising this demographic has begun choosing interest-based group activities over online dating platforms where it can be difficult to figure out if they’ve hooked a big one or may just have a catfish on the line. 

It’s a strategy that also may help people to connect with activity partners, if nothing else. 

Meanwhile, back at the apps

In the last year and a half, well-known dating apps such as Tinder, Bumble, Match.com, and OK Cupid, have turned to AI for help. 

For example, in February 2023, OK Cupid announced its intention to add matching questions created by Chat GPT to its app, including “are you a morning person or a night person” and “what do you value most in a partner.”

TinderProfile.ai currently invites users to create “stunningly realistic dating pictures that show the best version of you” using AI image generation, and promises more matches as a result. 

RECOMMENDED READ: Who’s Working for Whom? Bumble’s Founder Envisions “AI-Dating Concierges”

Then there are AI avatars that can go on dates while you, I dunno, stay home and wash your hair? 

A recent MSNBC opinion piece expressed dismay when Bumble’s executive chair, Whitney Wolfe, said AI personas—avatars of Bumble users—“would be the next wave of dating.” The Bumble executive appears to endorse the practice of a person’s avatar, also known as an AI dating concierge, dating another person’s dating concierge—though the advantages of this strategy seem murky at best. 

Iris favors visual attraction over compatibility algorithms

Meanwhile, Iris is an AI-based dating app which focuses on visual (aka “primary”) attraction. A promotional video featuring the app’s founder claims 22% of users feel hopeful after using a dating app, but far more (78%) feel frustrated. Note: Iris does not cite its research source. 

To address this frustration, Iris focuses on the power of primary attraction that happens before knowing anything about a person, utilizing machine learning to match mutually attracted people by showing each user hundreds of random profiles and registering their likes. AI then crunches the data suggesting who they might find attractive. In other words, Iris puts visual attraction first and compatibility second. 

Does it work better than other dating apps in finding matches? Who knows. But the app does emphasize safety and trust and appears to do a good job of weeding out  fake profiles, by requiring users to submit a real-time selfie to validate their identity prior to creating a profile. 

Swiping and filtering and real life—looking ahead

Let’s face it, creating an online dating profile is a chore. It can feel daunting, depressing, and many people simply don’t know what to say about themselves. AI could help with that. ChatGPT or another conversational AI assistant could write a profile and as long as it is simple and the items are true, there should be little problem with this. Using an image generator to enhance photos is more problematic—many people would consider this deceptive.

Whether they use AI assistance or not, dating apps are probably not going to go away anytime soon, no matter how frustrated people may feel. And the apps will probably continue to be important to marginalized people who might have fewer options for partners and who may also need an extra layer of safety for personal disclosures. In that case, an app that prioritizes safety, like Iris, would be helpful. 

Millennial and Gen Z folx will probably continue to prefer real life singles and interest-related events to find dates. Will this trend spread to other age groups? If so, it might be wise for dating apps to emphasize activity partners rather than prospective romantic partners–or at least figure out how to make their sites more fun. And then let nature (with a little help from AI), take its course.

Images: A.R. Marsh using Ideogram.ai 

The post Sick of Swiping: Gen Z and Millennials Prefer Real Life Events to Online Dating appeared first on Future of Sex.

You name it, and machine learning systems could be there to lend a (virtual) hand

It’s growing increasingly obvious that AI, perhaps more than any other technology, may utterly transform human sexuality—hopefully for the better.

With that in mind, let’s do some outside-the-box thinking about how machine learning systems could enhance human sex and intimacy in the years ahead, keeping in mind that if trying to imagine the future has taught us anything, it’s that any technology’s impact on human society will always be unpredictable.   

Genius-level sextech

Though some manufacturers are already outfitting their smart sextech products with AI—case in point, Lelo’s new smartphone app—they sometimes feel more like a jump on the artificial intelligence bandwagon than exploring its nearly limitless possibilities.

It is A situation that shows every sign of changing—and fast. As Lovehoney’s AI Solution Manager, Fabian Schmolck, told EL PAÍS, “AI has great personalization potential. It allows us to interpret data and develop individual responses based on sensory information, such as body temperature and pulse, to adapt them to the user’s needs. For example, future sex toys could recognize if you are having an orgasm and, based on your behavior, know whether it should increase or decrease its intensity.”

These sorts of super-smart products may not even need to be physically controlled, aside from switching them on or off, of course: equipped with a multitude of sensors, they’ll be able to recognize and continuously react to their user’s arousal levels—which might either be established beforehand or left up to their on-board AI to determine, based perhaps on a simple rule like show my user a great time.

Future sextech might also be excitingly multidimensional. For example, its physical form may not necessarily be what it looks like or how it behaves in augmented or virtual reality environments—especially when linked to haptic systems to add taste, touch, smell, and other sensations to the user’s experiences.

Someone for everyone 

Like the sextech industry, dating sites and apps have already started exploring the use of AI-driven algorithms—which an increasing number of people seem fine with.

But also, like today’s smart-but-could-be-smarter vibrators, this is just the beginning of how AI could make the dream of everyone being able to find someone to be and play with a reality.  

Imagine what might happen when a super-sophisticated AI is given access to not just your personal data, including social media, online purchases, entertainment choices, sexual preferences, and gender expression(s), but thousands of other people’s as well.  

RECOMMENDED READ: Love Bytes: Sex Therapists Weigh in on AI Relationships

With this information, it might understand you more than you do yourself, then, using it to locate someone, or maybe several someones, you’ll really like—and who’d feel the same about you.

Who knows, maybe your ideal mate isn’t a person but a specialty-tailored AI. Or if not your ideal partner, then perhaps a virtual entity that’ll—how shall I put this?—make you a better you?

Be all you can be

Naturally, we’re a long way from AI sex therapists that’ll be as good as human ones are now, but considering how insanely fast the technology is progressing, they might be here much sooner than you expect.

What’s interesting about the idea of an artificially intelligent therapist, life coach, or just a helpful friend, is how ubiquitous they might be, working in our personal, digital backgrounds to subtly help us process and then potentially overcome personal and/or sexual difficulties.

The media often likes to depict this as a nightmare—machines dictating our every move, and so forth—but, again, frequently forgets how quickly AIs are evolving.  

Yes, there’s going to be some initial weirdness, but as the technology learns more and more about us and we do the same in return, there’s a very good chance artificial intelligences will go from strange and disturbing to part of our day-to-day lives—a friend when we need one, a lover when we want one, or a therapist when necessary. 

The start of something—wonderful?

As I’m fond of saying, while we should always keep our eyes extremely wide open when it comes to embracing any new technology, especially something with as much world-changing potential as artificial intelligence research, bowing to unjustified fears is far more likely to result in greater social problems.

Remember, AI learns—it’s designed and built to do precisely that—so wouldn’t it be wiser to teach it to be caring, supportive, and, yes, loving, instead of being frightened of what it might someday do?

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Magic Moments: Unique Ways AI Might Improve Your Love Life appeared first on Future of Sex.

How machine learning systems could become a dating scene staple

Conducted by Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute and sponsored by Match.com, the 13th annual Singles in America study seems to indicate United States singles are getting progressively comfortable using artificial intelligence to attempt to connect with potential partners.

Helen Fisher, Ph.D, Match.com’s chief scientific adviser, told Jenna Owsianik at Le Shaw about this rise in AI matchmaking, saying, “We are driven to find love, and this is just the next way to do the same old thing.” 

Of the 5,000 participants, a mere six percent reported employing AI to improve their dating chances.  This number is likely to change in the future as 40% were optimistic machine learning tools would improve their overall matchmaking odds.

Meanwhile, 63% of Gen Z respondents “have used AI in some capacity, dating or otherwise.” This is probably due to their familiarity/comfort with technological innovation.

Catch me a catch

For those who used AI, 34% wanted it to better sort their possible connections; 29% said they’d use the technology to make writing their profiles easier and more effective; and 30% would like a virtual hand in dreaming up some conversation starters.

The results? Actually quite impressive, with 26% disclosing their matches increased, 27% received higher quality ones, and 32% got quicker connections.

Despite these relatively high numbers, Dr. Fisher seems fairly reserved, “In the case of AI, if it helps you write a profile, terrific. Maybe it helps you come up with conversation topics. Terrific. You don’t have to use it. It’s just a helpful professor.”

Night after night in the dark I’m alone

Regarding image manipulation software, the participants were less positive, with a notable 46% saying its use—like altering a user’s photo—would be a massive dating red flag.

RECOMMENDED READ: Digital Desires and Social Media Double Standards

“That really upset them,” Fisher said, referring to the survey respondents and their disfavor. “Looks do count; they say a lot about who you are.”

In a similar vein, 39% felt negatively about the idea of chatting with what they may have thought was a flesh-and-blood person but was, in reality, a cleverly programmed chatbot.   

Look through your book

While not directly a technological issue, 40% expressed how, when younger, receiving a decidedly well-designed sexual education curriculum “Would have led them to more sexual confidence in adulthood, 30% would have learned how to date more effectively and 44% say they would have had healthier and better relationships now.”

The participants also said when they were taught, the curriculum was less than comprehensive, with 89% saying classes involved puberty, 84% on sexually transmitted infections, another 91% on reproduction, and—what is quite a telling statistic—77% promoted the long-disproven practice of abstinence.

As reported by Columbia University’s Mailman School Of Public Health, “Two scientific review papers find abstinence-only-until-marriage programs and policies in the United States are ineffective because they do not delay sexual initiation or reduce sexual risk behaviors.”

Make me a perfect match

Of all the information provided by the recent Singles in America study, arguably the most intriguing prospect for the evolution of dating is the high percentage of people who have already begun experimenting with AI-assisted dating or who look at it as a possibly favorable option in the future.

Speculating on this trend—not forgetting how dating apps have already started embracing AI systems, with limited success—we could see matchmaking platforms offering a variety of unique tools ranging from more efficient algorithms to chatbot assistants always willing to lend a hand.

On the subject of chatbots, we might be able to combine the need for improved sexual education with a supportive wingperson: a synthetic assistant for practicing our flirting skills who’d also help fill in any gaps we might have when it comes to the birds and the bees.

Further ahead, AI dating may, as we’ve previously discussed, be much more expansive than just trying to partner up with a fellow human being or two or three. Our dating possibilities could also include intimate relationships with any number of synthetic companions—some of whom might very well be the digital descendants of what began as our artificially intelligent matchmaking assistants.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Find Me A Find: New Survey Reveals Singles Increasingly Open To AI Matchmaking appeared first on Future of Sex.

Exploring the potential of VR porn in eliciting intimate experiences

The impact of virtual reality on sexual relationships is an evolving subject, with various studies and opinions shedding light on its implications. Computer-generated simulations of 3D sexual interactions, has seen significant growth since its inception around 2016. The 180 degree immersive nature offers a distinctly different experience from traditional adult content, involving more lifelike and engaging simulations​​.

The realism in virtual reality porn porn, such as the life-sized depiction of bodies and the first-person perspective, significantly enhances arousal for viewers. This increased immersion can stimulate responses akin to real-life sexual experiences, affecting the brain in novel ways. Interestingly, a study in “Computers in Human Behavior” found that this participant’s perspective in 4k vr porn resulted in greater arousal compared to traditional 2D porn, regardless of gender​.

With the abundance of free VR porn resources its use in relationships varies, with some couples finding it a beneficial tool to explore sexual fantasies and boost libido. It can also serve as a new method of kink exploration for those looking to spice up their sexual repertoire. However, responses  differ based on individual backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs​​.

Intriguingly, VR porn has the potential for developing empathy. A study published in “The Journal of Sex Research” suggested that it could be a powerful tool for eliciting the illusion of intimate sexual experiences, with participants reporting feelings of increased intimacy and connection during the experience. This aspect highlights its potential role in providing a sense of human intimacy, especially for individuals like sexual trauma survivors, who might use it as a safe way to explore intimate experiences again​​.

On the flip side, there are concerns about the downsides of this technology, such as its potential to cause relationship problems, dependence, and desensitization. Due to its immersive nature, it may lead to compulsive behavior, affecting real-life relationships and causing sexual dysfunction. It’s essential for individuals and couples to maintain realistic expectations and not allow virtual reality to set impossible standards for their sexual relationships​​.

The future of sex tech and 4k vr porn seems to be moving towards more realistic and connected experiences, potentially allowing people to have virtual sex with their own partners, even when physically apart. This trend suggests a shift towards more interactive and personalized sexual experiences, although it also raises concerns about cybersecurity and the ethics of interactions​​.

In conclusion, VR is reshaping the landscape of sexual exploration and intimacy in relationships. While it offers novel ways for couples to explore their sexuality, it also necessitates careful consideration of its effects on individual and shared sexual experiences. Open communication and realistic assessments of its usage are crucial in navigating its impact on relationships.
Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post The Impact of VR on Relationships appeared first on Future of Sex.

Exploring the fusion of online and in-person networking

In response to the COVID pandemic, which practically shut down in-person gatherings overnight, members of the BDSM community have begun using innovative new ways to connect with one another. 

Be it via online searches, listening to podcasts, delving into various assortment of subreddits, or good, old-fashioned networking; they’ve discovered new—often high-tech, sometimes low-tech–methods to find friends, support, partners, or playmates. 

In a similar vein, fetish-themed adult entertainment venues are using a combination of tried-and-true as well as out-of-the-box techniques to appeal to kinksters worldwide.

Working together—kinksters seeking to find others like them and organizers trying to get the word out about their events—these and other innovative social and technological developments could be giving us a glimpse of BDSM’s future.

The world is a kinky oyster

While certain things have changed, like how local munches—a non-sexual gathering of community members wanting to socialize—feel like they’re increasingly hard to find, larger BDSM conventions can often still be found on kink-related online spaces and sites, like the kink-related social network, Fetlife, Discord, Reddit and even Eventbrite.

Other high-tech ways kinksters are linking up include specific kink and fetish dating sites, like ALT, Fetish.com, BDSM.com, or subreddits such as r/BDSMpersonals.

Suppose your idea of playing includes games as well as BDSM scenes. In that case, there’s a host of immersive titles to choose from, many of which have proven to be great places to connect with playmates in the real world as well, such as 3D SexVilla, IMVU, Yareel, and others we’ve previously previewed. 

Though frequently not as popular as non-kinky dating apps, there’s a steadily rising number of Android and iOS ones specifically made for the BDSM community, including Kinkoo, Kink D, FET, Whiplr, and Feter.

Getting the word out

On the other side of the fence, as in venues and events trying to reach the kink community, I asked Megan A, Liquid Red Las Vegas’ fetish party producer, to share how she gets the word out for her almost monthly shows, “I post on my event websites liquidredlv.com and liquidreddetroit.com, as well as Facebook events, Fetlife events, all of my social media channels and groups that I am involved with.” 

She added how good old-fashioned email works as well, “Having a go-to email list is also necessary, and I feel like a lot of people start to think they’re outdated, but I still find them useful. I also still use printed posters and flyers because some people still find my events that way as well.”

Although it’s obvious blogs, press releases, and online posts remain effective at getting the word out, producers like Megan A also need to know that where and when a show takes place will always play a vital role in how to promote their events successfully.

Take Sin City, for example, a town replete with adult entertainment venues, many of which operate seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.

“For Las Vegas, and the museum even more specifically, the larger the lead time one leaves to advertise an event or show could signal the death knell of attendance,” Dr. Victoria Hartmann, director of Las Vegas’s Erotic Heritage Museum, told me. 

“People come to Las Vegas for a few days, pick what they might go to see when they are here; there’s a lot of options in this town. We’ve learned unless it is a residency show like our ‘Puppetry Of The Penis’, inundating a potential customer with news of an event weeks before doesn’t bring us a big audience. In fact, the opposite is true.”

In short, the best press coverage in the world, in print, online, or featured on a local news broadcast, won’t have much of an impact if not timed correctly, especially in bustling entertainment hubs like Vegas.

Still room for print?

Designer/Producer James Dury, head of PictureRama Publishing, has been putting out the UK-based Fetish Map for a decade. 

In this day and age of apps and online searches, his map stands out, as much for featuring kinky retail establishments, service providers, upcoming events in and around the London area, as well as it’s an actual, printed-on-paper map.

Dury explained to me, “During lockdown, we conducted a survey amongst our readers and subscribers. ‘What is your fetish? We want to know all about it. We got a good response ranging from one-liners right up to full-length essays, going into great detail about what our readers are interested in and how they play that out. This allowed us to go in search of businesses/events/teachers/providers that/who cover all those requirements.”

As Dury’s Fetish Map shows, there remain plenty of ways, from online to good old-fashioned paper maps or in-person networking, for kinksters to find what and who they’re looking for.

Nothing’s gonna stop us now—

Portuguese writer José de Sousa Saramago imagined a terrifying pandemic in his novel Blindness. But not even a Nobel Prize recipient couldn’t have imagined what COVID would end up putting most of society through. 

It’s also why professional as well as amateur futurists have often failed to predict what the world would be like when we could step out of our houses once again—or share a meal (or more) with a friend.

Not to be undone, what could tomorrow’s BDSM networking, dating, or attending in-person events look like?

Megan A. postulated, “I think people are mainly back to wanting to get out and see other people. At this point, very few people have hang-ups about events. Only a few older people I know still worry about crowds.”

So it’s pretty safe to say we’ll likely see a preponderance of online-only performances, meet-and-greets, and virtual play parties, many perhaps aided by virtual reality, augmented reality, or artificial intelligence technologies. 

Another off-base speculation? Hardly, as in fact, these and other online-only social events were popular before the onset of the pandemic.

Leading to the bigger question: will in-person kink play remain popular, or will the scene be someday replaced by digital BDSM experiences?

Meeting in the middle

It’ll likely be a little from column A and a little from column B: a combination of the real and the unreal that’ll make finding a kinky partner, or two or three or more as easy as snapping your flesh-and-blood or virtual fingers or—as we’re talking BDSM after all—cracking a whip.

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post BDSM Reimagined: Navigating the Kink Landscape in a Post-COVID World appeared first on Future of Sex.

Finding partners or playmates is getting easier—and hotter!

You’ve invested in the latest VR gear; your avatar is designed to be futuristic or perhaps realistic. If you have one, you’ve cleared the interactions with your real-life partner, and now you’re ready to find a playmate or two in the metaverse.

Remember, the metaverse is not just escaping the less-than-ideal; it’s the possibility of enhancing what is already good in your world as you interact and socialize with others in real-time. 

There, you might be able to meet people much the same as if you were on a dating app similar to Timber, swiping to indicate your interest, or you might strike up a conversation with someone in a virtual bar.

But first, you have to find a suitable platform to entertain your wanderlust—or wanderlove—as the case may be. 

Meeting others

One possibility is Nevermet, a metaverse dating site where the possibility of meeting your next date is practically endless. Another popular VR site, Dovey Dates, offers an opportunity to find and experience cyber chemistry—and should your virtual date not go as planned, you can take off your VR goggles and try again later. No harm, no foul. 

Whether you choose either Nevermet, Dovey Dates, VRChat, Second Life, Nevermet, Dovey Dates, Flirtual, Planet Theta, or any of the newer platforms, after creating your avatar, you’ll be ready to start navigating the metaverse—where there’s a good chance you’ll could reap some of the benefits of VR dating. 

What to expect

At best, you may find an antidote to depression, isolation, boredom, and, in some cases, find a playmate who shares your kinks.  

One of the better benefits might be establishing a deeper connection with someone special based upon more than just you or their looks. As everyone knows, an avatar is made up—but your interactions with others won’t be. 

If you are touch averse, the thought of a contactless relationship might be just what you need. For others, the lack of physical intimacy might make the metaverse less appealing.

As Donna Sarkur, writing for Glam, said, “Similar to social media interactions, you can chat with others through text, audio, and video clips of your digital avatar. However, interactions can also be taken one step further with new AI speech translators.” 

Imagine the possibility of being fluent with anyone, no matter their or your native language: suddenly, your dating pool might go from a puddle to a flood. 

If that wasn’t enough

The intersection of the metaverse and adult toys or sexbots are also on the way, including gloves able to mimic physical contact in virtual reality. 

Meanwhile, Viro Playspace is already selling Bluetooth-enabled VR adult toys. So we might soon see—and feel—technology that’ll make it possible to travel anywhere, real or imagined, to experience adult pleasures with a virtual partner.

A virtually better world

Consider the potentially good outcomes for us all, especially the physically challenged or maybe couples needing a change of pace. Think what it’d be like to explore endless adult scenarios with a loving partner in a virtual Tuscany or Tahiti on a Friday night.

As with any behavior, sexual or otherwise, it’s important to be ethical in the metaverse, and consent is always necessary—and sexy. Though it seems like we might have a long way to go, as Samantha Bitty writes for Refinery29, “Technology has evolved faster than our ethics around sex and relationships in those spaces.”

How we behave in the metaverse will always reflect who we are. Things might be crazy right now, but as with other technologies, we’ll eventually figure out how to be consensual and civil in the metaverse—because the potential for you and everyone else to find well-being with a real and virtual partner is unlimited. 

Image Sources: Depositphotos

The post Looking for Love in All the Virtual Places: Dating in the Metaverse appeared first on Future of Sex.