A young man from Moscow, after a breakup in 2021, applied the prowess of OpenAI's GPT-2 to aid his search for a partner on Tinder, ultimately engaging in discussions with 5,239 women. The result? He reportedly found his soon-to-be bride.

The intricacies of dating don't simplify just because of the influx of dating applications like Tinder. If anything, the process becomes more complicated with the enormous range of potential matches. But now, a novel helper has entered the scene: artificial intelligence.

The story of Alexander Zhadan from Moscow started after his breakup in 2021 when he turned to Tinder to look for a new companion. Tired of spending hours swiping, messaging, and preparing for dates that led to dead ends, he decided to deploy a digital wingman, programming the OpenAI GPT-2 as his dating assistant. This program chatted with 5,239 women, scheduled over a hundred dates and, ultimately spoiler alert found the woman he would come to view as wife material.

Functioning similarly to Zhadan himself, after comprehending the young man's preferences and interests, the program liked potential matches' profiles. It also filtered out profiles displaying alcohol and those where star signs were mentioned in the biography, among other turn-offs for Zhadan.

Artificial Intelligence was even capable of scheduling personal dates through Google Calendar.

Even the early versions of GPT could send messages and engage in conversation, though not without initial errors. However, as OpenAI released newer versions of the GPT, including 3, 3.5, and 4, our protagonist continued to update his project.

The dating assistant eventually narrowed down the 5,000 possibilities to a single woman. For the first few months, she conversed with the ChatGPT, which she wasn't upset about upon learning it later. She noted that initial conversations on Tinder usually aim to discover potential partners' interests, hopes, and perhaps philosophies – something her digital interlocutor communicated effectively.

After a few personal dates, Zhadan suspended the ChatGPT from speaking with other women on Tinder. The couple moved in together not long after, still in 2023, and have even set a wedding date. They plan to enlist ChatGPT's help in planning the wedding.

Zhadan is not offering this service commercially, primarily due to operational costs – he has spent thousands on the program. Nonetheless, the use of ChatGPT for purposes like Tinder is becoming increasingly popular: OpenAI's GPT Store has been flooded with simpler versions of Zhadan's chatbot.

But does a relationship hold less meaning or reality if ChatGPT orchestrated it?

"If we can program a tool to act as a dating assistant and get to real human connection faster, it is far more authentic than trying to figure out who someone is in an endless thread of text," said dating coach Damona Hoffman to Gizmodo.

Despite these developments, dating apps are not necessarily keen on AI chatbots masquerading as humans on their platforms. However, the company behind Tinder, Match Group, doesn't outright ban such practices. Citing the Match Group's "AI principles," a spokesperson mentioned the company "develops features enhancing individual expression and the authenticity of human connections." Not specifically prohibiting AI programs, the Match Group did deactivate the app in Russia shortly after Zhadan ceased his other Tinder conversations.