Is Bumble’s AI concierge the future of dating?

Bumble's founder sees a future where an AI "concierge" could go on dates with other concierges for you. The bot can then pair you with a real human when it finds a good match.

Fair warning: this story is NSFB (not safe for bots).

It sounds dystopian, but AI digital replicas may be the future of interactions with people and brands online.

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd recently posed a future for online dating many have compared to an episode of Black Mirror.

In a Bloomberg interview, she said soon, users may be able to talk to an AI "dating concierge" about their insecurities when dating. Not only that, but they'll be able to get help on tackling those insecurities, too.

Beyond that though, she figured one day your concierge could be a digital replica of yourself who "dates" other concierges. And, when one of those dates goes well, your concierge could match you up with the human behind it.

So... Black Mirror, huh?

Let's just breathe for a moment. If AI digital replicas do become a reality, we're still a long way away from it being normal.

There's some big ethical questions we're not in any position to answer here, let's just be clear about that. But solely from a marketing standpoint, digital replicas could be the future of creating interpersonal relationships with both people and brands online.

If done properly, this could be an incredibly efficient way to connect people with brands that align with their values.

As Herd said for Bumble, a concierge could "scan all of San Francisco for you and say, ‘These are the three people you want to meet'." If a brand could harness that power, imagine the possibilities.

It's an interesting thought. And trust us, we think it's scary too.

But, as a brand, one of your goals should be to be as relevant as possible in people's daily lives. A world of digital replicas might be the closest you ever get to sitting down and meeting every one of your customers over coffees and croissants.

-Devin, Copywriter