AI带来的好处：Bumble构建AI媒人来解决刷卡疲劳问题

Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) is giving cupid a tech upgrade, with founder Whitney Wolfe Herd saying a new AI feature in development could make the dating app “the world’s smartest, most emotionally intelligent matchmaker.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, Wolfe Herd is leading a secret project to build a new, AI-powered matchmaking app that delivers results based on answers regarding past relationships, breakups, and “experiences with love and dating,” rather than the current superficial criteria that includes a photo, height, ethnicity, and political leanings. Once the app is functional, Bumble will gain familiarity with a user over a series of sessions, then make a dating profile, find a match, and can even book reservations for a date.

The AI-functionality appears to be leaning heavily towards attachment theory which suggests people develop different styles of attachment to a mate based on early relationships, and groups people into four attachment-style types: anxious, avoidant, disorganized, and secure.

Wolfe Herd’s efforts to upgrade Bumble (NASDAQ:BMBL) hopes to address a trend away from dating apps. “Swipe” fatigue and the superficial nature of dating apps is resulting in a decline in paying users for apps like Match.com, Tinder, and Hinge, and users complain that the for-profit models of dating apps encourage persistent engagement rather than finding a suitable and long-term match.

“If you’re a shareholder, you want people to be on these apps to not find their person,” The WSJ quoted chief investment officer for Bristlemoon Capital, George Hadija, underscoring the “massive misalignment of interests” between entities that develop dating apps and  the people who use them.

But employing methods to keep users engaged with the site doesn’t seem to be working out too well either. In their latest quarterly results, Match Group (MTCH) conceded that it is now focused on delivering an experience that builds “trust, relevance, and confidence among both users and investors.”

Not surprisingly Match’s realignment coincided with a 5% decline in the number of total paying users on the site in Q2, a 5% drop in operating income, and flat revenue from the year ago quarter.

Bumble’s (NASDAQ:BMBL) latest results were equally telling, with paying users down almost 9% and revenue dropping 8% from a year ago.

At that time, Wolfe Herd said the company is building an experience for users that “foster real love and connection,” a business model that Bumble’s CEO believes could return the company back to profitability.