BUMBLE IS GETTING rid of swiping and instead matching users using artificial intelligence. 

The dating app’s planned overhaul will see it depart from the system used by competitors Tinder and Hinge.

Bumble has had financial difficulties in recent years, as it’s been struggling to keep users engaged.

Swiping will be replaced by an AI matchmaking system called Dates, but details on how it works are sparse so far.

Whitney Wolfe Herd, Bumble’s chief executive and founder, said the new system will be “revolutionary” for the dating app market.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Wolfe Herd shared “some thoughts on AI”.

Addressing the advent of chatbot girlfriends and virtual boyfriends, she said she does not believe human connection can be automated or engineered.

“We believe AI should help people show up more honestly, connect more intentionally, and spend less time lost in the noise, fatigue and endless swiping.”

She promised that user bios would still be written by the users, but that AI would work “in the background”.

“The best AI should work quietly in the background, so real people can show up fully in the foreground,” Wolfe Herd said.

“If we get this right, the future of connection will feel more authentic, more courageous and more real than ever.”

The change is to hit users in some countries in the last quarter of 2026. It’s unclear when the feature will be available in Ireland.

Some users took to Bumble’s Instagram comments to express their discontent with the impact AI is having on the environment and, now, relationships.

“Final nail in the ‘romance is dead’ coffin,” one said.

Another said: “Why not hire humans to do this work? AI is lazy. Bumble is in the business of human connection. Use humans to run that business.”

Just two years ago, Bumble hyped up a revamp that ultimately left many users disappointed.

It introduced Opening Move, a feature which allows women to set an evergreen question that men they match with can respond to, without having to message them first.

When Bumble was founded in 2014, Bumble, it sought to set itself apart from competitors by centring women and reducing the number of messages women receive.

When users matched, a 24-hour timer began and if the woman did not message her match within that time, the match was no longer available to her (unless, of course, she pays to extend the window).

But the app’s own research found that nearly two in three (61%) women still said that dating is more work for them than it is for men, with nearly 70% saying they’ve experienced dating app burnout.

There are various premium features on the app that have become less and less attractive to users in recent years, contributing to the company’s financial difficulties.

AI integration appears to be Bumble’s latest attempt to revive the app.