LOVE MACHINES

Why stories about robotic romance push our buttons.

- JENNIFER WILSON

Last month, a new dating app called Volar launched in New York City, with the promise “We go on blind dates. So you don’t have to.” To sign up, you enter your name and phone number, then submit yourself to a brief interview with a chatbot matchmaker. When I made an account, Volar’s bot asked what line of work I was in. “I’m a book critic,” I replied. “Recently,” I typed, “I’ve been reading a lot of speculative fiction. Right now, I’m reviewing two books about A.I. and dating.” By answering, I was training an A.I.-powered avatar to act as my representative in the virtual meet market. Seconds later, Volar invited me to read transcripts from three dates “I” had just gone on. In one, my avatar broke the ice with an admittedly not terrible joke: “Just finished a book and now transitioning to real life conversations [smile emoji]. How’s your day going?”