The following is the text of the open letter we sent to major regulators. 

You can read more about our motivations for writing the letter in this Observer article.

Open letter - 10th of February, 2025

For the attention of the United Kingdom Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology; the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority; Ofcom; the European directorate for Communications Networks, Content and Technology; and the United States of America Federal Trade Commission,

We are a group of international academics and educators calling on regulators to examine the acceptable use of generative-AI in digital spaces and products, like dating apps, where people are seeking intimacy. There is urgent need for regulatory clarity and well-developed guardrails in this industry, particularly as some younger people and the elderly may be especially vulnerable.

Match Group, the world’s largest dating app company, recently announced plans to integrate generative AI into its products. In an  letter to shareholders, the company wrote: ‘Tinder and Hinge are currently working on several ways for AI to assist in making this important first step as frictionless as possible by helping daters curate their photos and bios to better showcase who they are…We will implement generative AI to inspire more effective and authentic bios and prompts to substantially improve profile quality and drive improved user outcomes.’

This attitude is shared through the industry, with the CEO of rival company, Bumble, last year exploring the idea of a ‘digital concierge’ where AI-bots date each other, and Grindr announcing they are ‘testing an AI bot for gay and bi men that helps find new matches, set up dates, and even date other AI wingmen for you.’ 

While some of these innovations are on the horizon, third parties already offer a suite of AI services to help people use dating apps. For example:

Individuals can also adapt existing gen-AI to guide their search for intimacy, e.g. developer Alexander Zhadan used personalized ChatGPT bots to ‘date’ over 5000 women.

Gen-AI is often positioned as a technology which will revolutionise the search for intimacy by tackling ‘dating fatigue’, and help to address the loneliness crisis.

It would also be foolish to deny it may have some benefits. That said, we are writing to urge caution around use of this technology and to encourage companies and regulators to consider carefully its impact on vulnerable groups and wider society.

The main risk of hasty adoption of gen-AI, is that without adequate guardrails and education in place, it may degrade an already precarious online environment. Misrepresentation and deception are rife online, and use of gen-AI risks worsening this to the detriment of dating app users who value authentic intimacy.

Other potential risks associated with growing use of gen-AI in dating apps are that it:

  • Makes manipulation easier, and risks normalising various forms of deception  

  • Creates unknown risks for vulnerable individuals suffering from loneliness, social isolation, abuse or mental health issues, especially the young and elderly

  • Complicates our sense of who is responsible for content (the user, or the app)

  • Contributes to unrealistic expectations around body-image, personality, and conversational competence in connection to dating

  • Reinforces algorithmic biases concerning gender, race, class, and disability

  • Exacerbates inequality in the dating sphere, as some can pay to access gen-AI tools and others can not

  • Homogenises profiles and conversations

  • Increases anxieties around in-person dates, where gen-AI ‘wingmen’ may not be available

  • Raises new worries about data security and privacy due to the personal information involved

  • Contributes to the rapid acceleration of GenAI’s impact on climate and other environmental harms

It may be possible to mitigate some of these concerns, but until then restraint is crucial.

Please can you confirm whether you intend to explore the need for regulation and greater safeguarding of these technologies.

Signed:

 

Prof. Shannon Vallor, Baillie Gifford Chair in the Ethics of Data and Artificial Intelligence at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

 

Prof. Carrie Jenkins, Professor in Philosophy, University of British Columbia, Canada

 

Prof. Jörg Löschke, Professor in Practical Philosophy, University of Stuttgart, Germany

 

Prof. Elvira Vallejos, Professor of Digital Technology for Mental Health, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

 

Dr Paula Sweeney, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom

 

Dr Elanor Drage, Senior Research Fellow, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

 

Dr Natasha McKeever, Lecturer in Applied Ethics, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

 

Dr Luke Brunning, Lecturer in Applied Ethics, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

 

Dr Lucy McDonald, Lecturer in Ethics, King’s College London, United Kingdom

 

Dr Gulzar Barn, Assistant Professor in Philosophy, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands 

 

Dr Tom O’Shea, Lecturer in Political Theory, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

 

Dr Pilar Lopez-Cantero, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Antwerp, Belgium 

 

Dr Amy Gaeta, Research Associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

 

Dr Simone Degn, Postdoctoral fellow, Aalborg University, Denmark

Dr Anna Puzio, Postdoctoral researcher, Ethics of Socially Disruptive Technologies, University of Twente, Netherlands

Dr Harriet Cameron, Responsible Innovation in Autonomous Systems Research Fellow, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom

 

Dr Alex Fisher, Postdoctoral researcher, Tilburg University, Netherlands

 

Dr Chong Liu, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

 

Anastasiia Babash, PhD candidate in religious studies, University of Tartu, Estonia

 

Eli Benjamin Israel, PhD candidate in philosophy, Temple University, United States of America

 

Ruby Hornsby, PhD candidate in philosophy, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

 

Sophie Goddard, PhD candidate in philosophy, University of Leeds, United Kingdom

 

Conner Leshner, PhD candidate in social psychology, Trent University, Canada  

 

Ruby Rare, Broadcaster, author, and educator, United Kingdom