Say goodbye to endless swiping and pointless small talk in your DMs, as the AI-driven dating app, “Amata,” is hitting the US this week.
Online dating can feel torturous at times. The endless cycle of swiping, matching, chatting, and ghosting can leave users feeling discouraged.
But imagine an app without swiping that sets you up with potential matches through a blind dating format. Sprinkle a bit of artificial intelligence (AI) in there, and you have Amata.
Amata, created by French entrepreneur Ludovic Huraux in 2023, is a new way to meet people.
The app functions as an AI matchmaker which “sets you up with people who are truly right for you,” said Huraux in a LinkedIn post, “No small talk. No endless swiping. All you have to do is show up.”
Amata previously launched in beta in Australia and has now come to the United States, launching first in New York City.
How does an AI-enabled partially blind date work?
The app works by having daters choose a digital avatar that asks them questions about themselves to ascertain their preferences and what they want in a romantic partner.
Once the “Amata,” or digital avatar, has found a match based on their preferences, users would need to purchase a token, which currently costs $16 but will likely increase, according to Business Insider.
The token allows Amata to plan a date based on users' preferences and location in the city.
But what if the person bails? Users will receive their token back.
What if someone cancels on me twice? The app will pause recommending matches for seven days until they straighten up their calendar.
"We don't want people who are not emotionally available, who are on dating apps just for their ego boost…It's about intentionality," Huraux told Business Insider.
What’s novel about this app is that users cannot message their date in advance. Most apps, like Hinge, Tinder, and Bumble, rely on online communication, but Amata doesn’t.
The company is seemingly so confident in its app design that it only allows a DM to open up two hours before the scheduled date. However, this presented issues for Reddit users who had tried out the app.
Reddit users aren’t loving Amata
On Reddit, people were already talking about Amata roughly six months ago.
Users naturally had something to complain about as the app perhaps hadn’t ironed out the kinks in its AI before launch.
Posts from the onlinedating
community on Reddit
“I tried it with my friend, and we kept getting shown the same guys,” said one Reddit user.
“The AI also kept making little mistakes – like saying I was from a suburb I never mentioned.”
“So weird, so many mistakes! Lots of buggy issues. The AI kept showing me guys who were in a different state or city, and I’m like, what am I supposed to do with this?! Hahaha… back to the old swipey, I guess,” the original Reddit poster responded.
Curious what others think about this story? Contribute your thoughts to the debate below.
Users reported the lack of a location feature, with people saying they had to cancel dates due to their match being on the other side of the city.
“I was really looking forward to meeting her, but honestly, with that sort of distance there’s really no point, so we had a quick chat over the phone and cancelled our date,” one Reddit user said.
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