Dating applications are encountering increasing scrutiny, as numerous users are opting for real-life interactions over virtual matchmaking. From conventional face-to-face meetings to alternative events such as dungeon sound baths, individuals are progressively in search of offline opportunities to connect. Concurrently, there’s a mounting backlash against dating apps’ dependence on artificial intelligence and the growing sentiment that many platforms are becoming indistinguishable from one another.
Even Vice President JD Vance has shared his apprehensions regarding the influence of dating apps. During a recent appearance on The New York Times’ “Interesting Times” podcast, Vance elaborated on his broader discomfort with contemporary technology, especially AI. He remarked to host and Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat that dating apps may be more detrimental than people acknowledge. “If you look at basic dating behavior among young people,” Vance stated, “the dating apps are probably more destructive than we fully appreciate.” (In a twist of irony, Vance met his spouse, Usha, in a traditional manner — during law school.)
Vance further indicated that technology has complicated effective communication between young men and women. “Our young men and women just aren’t dating,” he noted. “And if they’re not dating, they’re not getting married, they’re not starting families.”
His remarks resonate with longstanding criticisms of dating apps and social media, which many believe obstruct authentic human connection. For instance, a recent survey disclosed that eight out of ten Gen Z adults would contemplate marrying an AI partner, attributing it to the technology’s nonjudgmental nature. Although online communication — whether with a person or a chatbot — may appear safer for individuals with social anxiety, studies consistently demonstrate that face-to-face interactions are significantly more effective in cultivating meaningful relationships.
Vance also raised concerns about teenagers developing emotional connections with AI chatbots, labeling this trend as “profoundly dark and negative.” A recent report from Common Sense Media corroborates this perspective, cautioning that AI companions can create unhealthy emotional dependencies among users who are under 18.
However, while Vance concentrated on technology’s role in diminishing marriage and birth rates, he overlooked other crucial factors. Escalating living expenses, economic disparities, and the rising costs of childcare and childbirth in the U.S. present significant obstacles to starting families. Therefore, although dating apps may influence changing relationship dynamics, they are far from being the sole issue at hand.