It feels harder than ever to date someone in 2025, after all, we've come a long way from our grandparents 'courting' each other in a world without social media or even mobile phones. Everything is more accessible these days, and that includes the ability to pick up a date.
Dating apps only seem to be getting more popular, with the likes of Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble being just some of those on offer. It seems not everyone is a fan, and among those who prefer to do it the old-fashioned way, Vice President JD Vance is making his feelings clear.
At a time when we see young people taking their lives after falling for chatbots, and robot girlfriends built for intimacy are becoming more popular, the whole dating scene has been turned on its head.
In a new interview with the New York Times' "Interesting Times" podcast, Vance discussed all things technological, including the ever-advancing world of artificial intelligence.
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Away from AI, he spoke out about dating apps and the potential impact they could be having on young people: "If you look at basic dating behavior among young people — and I think a lot of this is that the dating apps are probably more destructive than we fully appreciate."
Vance met his wife in law school, and by the sounds of it, he's unimpressed with this new-fangled way of doing things. The VP continued: "I think part of it is technology has just for some reason made it harder for young men and young women to communicate with each other in the same way.
"Our young men and women just aren’t dating, and if they’re not dating, they’re not getting married, they’re not starting families."
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As reported by Mashable, Vance has bigger issues with the wider tech industry and where our romance options might be heading. A recent survey suggested that eight out of 10 Gen Z adults would marry an AI, largely going with the idea that it's non-judgmental.
Others are more skeptical, noting how people with social anxiety might think it's easier to chat to a bot, but in reality, face-to-face interactions are the best way to connect with someone.
Nonprofit Common Sense Media recently suggested that AI bots aren't suitable for those under the age of 18 due to their potential in terms of fostering emotional attachment and dependence.
Vance echoed these concerns, saying how AI can be 'profoundly dark and negative' in terms of teenagers talking to chatbots and social media in general. Vance concluded: "There’s a level of isolation, I think, mediated through technology, that technology can be a bit of a salve. It can be a bit of a Band-Aid. Maybe it makes you feel less lonely, even when you are lonely. But this is where I think A.I. could be profoundly dark and negative."
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Responding to Vance's musings, one person said: "Don’t you hate it when an awful and chronically wrong person says something that’s accurate."
Another added: "Dating apps aren’t what prevents young men and women from communicating though. Those problems are both downstream of our weaking social fabric and the constant monetization of our society.
A third summed up: "I got off apps after ages of disappointment, and only dated people I met in person for years and that experience also still sucked in many of the same ways. I got back on the apps after doing some serious introspection and very quickly found my partner of 2 years (so far).
"The apps are bad but also our culture is bad and I don’t know if the apps are the cause or the symptom."