How AI Could Reshape Dating, Without Replacing Human Connection

Artificial intelligence is beginning to change online dating, and the article asks whether it could eventually replace the apps as people know them. Ahead of the Tapuzina Singles Run in Tel Aviv, scheduled for September, it looks at how users and experts think dating may evolve after more than a decade of swipe-based apps.

Eliana Barbal, who works in digital dating and leads a matching initiative inside Viber, says today’s apps are “a total waste of time.” She argues that users are trapped in endless swiping, matching, unanswered chats and failed dates, with people averaging 130 swipes a day on strangers they know nothing about. In her view, the next shift will not be cosmetic AI features such as improving a bio or message, but a deeper return to matchmaking, only powered by AI and tied to communities and friends.

Dalit Heldenberg, an AI and product expert, says one likely future is that “before you and I talk, our agents will talk to each other.” She says AI agents could screen matches, join live conversations, suggest replies, analyze interest and sentiment, and even judge compatibility. She also points to “companion” apps, where people form emotional, long-term relationships with AI characters, sometimes even talking about marrying them.

Dr. Tali Gazit, head of the Psycho-Technology Lab at Bar-Ilan University, says Israelis are heavy users of AI for personal needs, especially emotional support. Her research found that a quarter of people who went through a painful breakup used AI to cope. She warns that AI tends to tell users what they want to hear, which can distort judgment and even encourage unethical decisions, such as justifying infidelity. Still, Gazit and Barbal both say the human meeting will remain central, and that dating apps are more likely to evolve than disappear.