Speaking at the Bloomberg Technology Summit on Thursday, the former Bumble CEO explained that the ‘dating concierges’ could liaise with one another on behalf of users, taking the leg work out of online dating. 

“Then you don’t have to talk to 600 people,” Wolfe Herd explained, adding “It could scan all of San Francisco for you and say these are the three people you really ought to meet.”

The suggestion of the AI powered bot was met with some uncomfortable laughter from the crowd, and footage of the talk posted online had some people concerned. 

On X, many said the idea was “literally the plot to a Black Mirror episode”, referring to a season four episode of the hit Netflix show titled Hang the DJ, in which a couple question the compatibility algorithm that has paired them up. 

Others believe that getting to know people is a key part of dating, one person pointing out “It’s awesome how AI has made it so we don’t have to do things like make art or go on fun dates so that we have time to do more things like fixing a sink or folding laundry.”

Wolfe Herd also explained that Bumble’s focus with AI was in using it to “help create more health and equitable relationships”, with several features on the app already powered by artificial intelligence.