After years of declining usage and falling stock prices, the dating app Bumble is making a major change by ditching the swipe feature and introducing an AI assistant named 'Bee'. The company told Axios that the swipe led to too many dead-end conversations, and the new focus will be on deeper, more meaningful connections.
What Will Bee Do?
While details remain unclear, Bee is expected to help users improve their profiles by suggesting better photos and personal bios. It will also chat with users about their dating preferences to find matches with similar values. This move comes as consumer tech companies rush to integrate AI to satisfy investors, but sloppy implementation risks alienating users.
AI in Dating: A Mixed Track Record
Recent attempts to weave generative AI into courtship have had dubious results. Apps like Rizz, which uses AI to generate responses for users, have been praised for helping some fool partners, while others report paranoia over whether matches are using chatbots. When Tinder launched an AI flirting game in 2025, a test revealed that AI systems can replicate unfair dynamics from their training data.
The broader story of Bumble reflects consumer tech's promise to solve systemic issues through convenience and democratisation. But as life became frictionless, many young professionals found that endless choice in dating led to loneliness. A 2024 Forbes survey found nearly 80% of dating app users have felt emotionally or mentally exhausted.
The Deeper Problem
Ditching the swipe and hyping AI may please investors, but it won't fix the joylessness of modern dating if the goal remains a smooth, mindless path to connection. Broader issues like social alienation, declining marriage rates, and online misogyny are too complex for an app to solve. As tech executives pitch AI as the new solution, the question remains: when will we learn to stop listening?
This article reflects the opinion of Tatum Hunter, a technology journalist based in Brooklyn.
