Dee Salmon

It reported a 14% drop in total revenue and a 21% decline in paying users for the first quarter of this year compared to the same time last year.

And we know that Hinge as well has reported and Tinder massive significant declines.

According to a Forbes health survey, 79% of Gen Z users reported dating app fatigue.

And a 2025 study found that 77% of Gen Z adults in relationships met their partner in person and not actually through an app.

So now this is something that apparently Bumble are trying to fix.

So Bumble's founder, Whitney Wolf Hurd, told Fortune that apps are rooted in rejection and judgment and that these are actually not healthy dynamics.

So basically their answer is they're going to be testing an AI assistant called Bee that's basically aimed at understanding things like users' values and relationship goals and

So not a lot of details have actually been shared about how this will work.

But basically, Whitney has said that users will still be able to write their own bios and profile details, but AI will be operating in the background.

So what the hell is going on?

Is AI the future of dating apps?

Should we be worried?

What are the privacy and data implications?

Is this going to make dating even more of a low effort culture?

We're going to explore that all now with Dr. Raphael Chiarello.

He's a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney, a scholar of compassionate digital innovation, and his research examines ethical dilemmas in socio-technical change, focusing on AI companions, decentralized platforms, and public digital infrastructure.

So absolutely the most qualified person to talk about this today.

Dr. Raph, thank you so much for coming on The Hookup.

So what was your initial reaction to this news, Raf?

Yeah, I love that.