Death of swiping culture? Bumble drop hints on major app reset, AI to play cupid

For an entire generation, love got translated into a simple movement of the thumb — swipe right if you like someone, swipe left if you don’t like what you just saw on the screen.

After a decade of swiping, the dating application Bumble is deciding to put an end to the feature in a major revamp this year, hinting at using artificial intelligence to strengthen human connections.

In a cryptic post, it said on Instagram, “Dear Swiping, it’s over,” and subtly slid in an intention to ‘move’ things on the application.

The app’s CEO and founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd added to the post and shared her thoughts on artificial intimacy through AI chatbots.

“AI girlfriends, AI boyfriends, bots that flirt, text, and talk for you. A growing part of the tech world seems to believe human connection can be replicated, automated, or engineered. I believe the opposite, and at Bumble, we are building the opposite,” read the post.

In opposition to the growing trend, she expressed using AI in the background to make connections feel more real.

“The future of Bumble is not about automating love, it’s about protecting connection from feeling automated in the first place,” she added.

The post invited mixed responses from users, some called it a breakthrough, others expressed a growing dating fatigue through these channels and questioned its authenticity.

“It’s over indeed. I give up. I surrender,” wrote a user in a dejected tone.

“Meeting people happens outside any of these apps,” said another with a wink.

Another woman user raised questions about what the company is doing to protect users from having their pictures stolen and used in deepfakes.

While the intricacies of how AI will help aid the connection still remains a mystery, the app is certain on implementing changes by the year’s end.

This brings users to a crossroad where swiping is causing mental fatigue and the interference of AI seems too sceptical.

Growing dating fatigue

Dating applications are not free from the spell of ‘fixed’ algorithms that tend to solve a messy affair like love.

The algorithm instructs the application to run for a user in a tailored way, using contextual data from surveys or behaviour.

However, the same algorithms also tend to control a user’s experience by recycling old profiles that keep resurfacing.

This has been a contributor to a psychological condition — dating fatigue.

Speaking to DH, Dr. Munia Bhattacharya, a senior psychologist at Marengo Asia Hospitals ( Gurugram) said: “In my sessions over the last few years, I’ve noticed something quietly increasing among young adults and even people in their 40s which is dating fatigue. Many of my clients no longer complain about being single but instead feel emotionally exhausted.”

He reiterated a conversation from a session with one of his clients who said, “It feels like I’m endlessly interviewing strangers while slowly losing faith in connection itself.”

The expert pointed out a vicious loop in which these applications are keeping its users trapped in an emotional rut.

“Dating apps were originally designed to increase connection. But for many people today, the experience has become emotionally repetitive. Swipe, impress, ghost, restart. The problem is not technology alone. The problem is emotional overstimulation without emotional depth,” said Dr. Bhattacharya.

“Human beings are not psychologically wired to process hundreds of micro rejections, inconsistent attention, mixed signals, and disposable interactions every week without emotional consequences,” he added on the dangers of these micro-engagements.

AI entering the love triangle

With artificial intelligence becoming an integral part of human lives, people are seeking its help to fulfill emotional needs.

As per a BBC report, there are millions of users on an AI companion app Replika and a study shows that 40 percent of the people on such applications believe they are in a relationship with their chatbot.

A computer-human interaction scientist while speaking to BBC said a lot of AI chatbots are pretending to be humans and this is bothering me.

Multiple reports cited how people are going ahead in using these chatbots as their sexual partners.

However, these are just large language models faking human emotions and reinforcing false beliefs, experts have said.

Speaking to DH, Dr. Pretty Duggar Gupta, a psychiatrist at Aster Hospital (Whitefield, Bengaluru) said: “AI is never going to replace human connection entirely, but indeed it is changing how people experience intimacy and relationships. The concern is that if people become overly dependent on AI interactions, real relationships may start feeling less emotionally authentic.”

Some experts raised concerns on how emotional interactions with AI chatbots can make real connections appear weaker and imperfect.

“AI companionship may comfort loneliness temporarily, but it can also slowly reduce our emotional tolerance for real human complexity,” said Dr. Bhattacharya.

As per the expert, worrisome is not people talking to an AI chatbot but the real danger lies in people beginning to feel emotionally safer with AI than with human beings.